YuGiOh! A New Generation of Priests
by Skyla Doragono
Summary: Year Two at Hogwarts rated for language. The gang returns to Hogwarts for their second year at the magic school, only to end up in more danger than before!
1. The Burrow

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER ONE - THE BURROW**

The sun rose gradually over the business buildings and tall spires of Domino City, Japan. Birds chirped, welcoming the new day as they swooped low over the streets just starting to fill with the rush of morning traffic. In a small game shop shaped like a turtle in the town, the light of the warm sun drifted in lazily through the window of the bedroom next to the stairs, shining directly into the closed eyes of a sixteen year old, spiky haired boy.

Yugi Mutou groaned and rolled over in bed, shielding his face from offending light. He was about to go back to sleep, when he felt a sudden weight on the bed near him. He opened his purple eyes, only to find himself staring at a twin, slightly narrower, pair of eyes.

"Good morning, aibou!" Yami Yugi exclaimed, rather cheerily, looking out of place in his blue with yellow stars pajamas. Yugi groaned out something unintelligible before burying his head in the pillow. His other half shook his shoulders. "Hey, hey! C'mon, wake up now!"

"No..." Yugi muttered through the pillow.

"C'mon, aibou!" Yami Yugi urged, holding up a parchment envelope. "You got your Hogwarts letter today!"

Yugi sat up in bed like a shot, grabbing the envelope from his darker half's hand before he could even figure out what happened. Yami Yugi chuckled as he tore open the envelope, shaking out two pieces of folded parchment, a train ticket for London's King's Cross Station, and a ticket for Domino International Airport. Yugi unfolded the first piece of parchment; it was a note, telling him to catch the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three Quarters like he had done last year. The second piece of parchment was a list of supplies he would need for the new year, and it was considerably shorter compared to what he had had to buy last year.

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2  
_by Miranda Goshawk  
_Break with a Banshee_ by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_Gadding with Ghouls_ by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_Holidays with Hags_ by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_Travels with Trolls_ by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_Voyages with Vampires_ by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_Wanderings with Werewolves_ by Gilderoy Lockhart  
_Year with the Yeti_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

"Who's this Lockhart guy?" Yami Yugi asked, reading over his shoulder.

"I dunno," Yugi replied, folding the letters up and stuffing them in the envelope with the tickets. "Maybe he's some kind of famous wizard or something."

"Seems to be a bit of prude, if you ask me," Yami Yugi said, as his hikari got up and padded over to the closet to get dressed. "I mean, where did he come up with half of the names of his -"

The spirit of the pharaoh was cut off as a voice came from the other side of the door. "Yugi, honey," his mother called. "Who are you talking to?"

"Uh... no one, oka-san!" Yugi answered as Yami Yugi wisely retreated back into the Millennium Puzzle incase his mother came in. She did not come in, however, though it sounded like she was debating it.

"Anyway, your friend, Seto, called," she replied. "He said it was his day off today, and he would be at the arcade with the others."

"Okay! Arigato, oka-san!" Yugi called, hopping into a pair of jeans. He slipped a tank top over his head, listening patiently for his mother's retreating feet, before whispering, "Okay, the coast is clear."

Yami Yugi appeared once again, sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and leaning back on his hands. He now wore what his other half was wearing; Yugi always found it fascinating how he was able to do that. Then again, the two of them - the spirit of the ancient pharaoh and the normal teenager - were eternally bound to one another, and held a bond so deep that many times it was like they were one and the same.

Their bond had grown even deeper last year, while they were at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yugi would never forget that time, when all seemed lost at the hands of the dark spirit of Voldemort - when the Millennium Puzzle_shattered_ and nearly broke the two of them apart - and he saw the human form of Saint Dragon, the God of Osiris within the destroyed Soul Corridor of his mind. The God had made him aware of how great the bond they shared was, and encouraged him to take the next step and become pharaoh just like his darker half. Neither Yugi nor Yami Yugi could describe what they felt toward one another after that; it was a feeling that went beyond friendship or brotherhood. They were aware of the nameless feeling though, and that was good enough for them.

"Your mom said Seto would be at the arcade?" Yami Yugi asked. "Don't you think we should get over there before a certain high priest and a certain tomb robber start going for each other's throats?"

Yugi chuckled as he slipped on the Millennium Puzzle. "Hai! Lets go!"

-.oOOo.-

The first thing Yugi heard as he entered the arcade was a rather foul Egyptian curse coming from the fighting games section. He made his way toward the section in question, catching sight of his friends Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki, Hiroto Honda, and Marik Ishitar crowded around a Capcom Versus SNK machine. Sitting at opposing sides of the fighting machine were what looked like Seto Kaiba and Ryou Bakura, only...

"You bloody high priest!" Yami Bakura snarled. "You are _not_ defeating me with that Chun-Li wench again!"

Yami Seto smirked. "Pay attention, tomb robber. I just did."

"Grrr..."

Yugi chuckled in spite of himself. He really should have tried to break up the impending fist fight, but the thought of two five thousand year old spirits fighting each other through an arcade game was just too funny. He caught Marik's attention, and the Egyptian smiled down at him.

"Hey, Yugi-kun, how's it going?" he asked. "Did 'ya get your Hogwarts letter yet?"

"Yup!" Yugi exclaimed as both Yami Seto and Yami Bakura inserted more tokens into the machine ("I'll beat him this time!"). The former turned his attention to him after he chose his fighting party.

"Hikari has something he wants to tell you; just one more round with the tomb robber and I'll let him take over," he said. The fight started again, as well as the Egyptian swearing, and Jonouchi turned his attention to Yugi.

"So, it's back to England again, hunh?" he asked. "Looking forward to the new school year?"

Yugi nodded. "I've been looking forward to it since school let out last year. Hogwarts is an amazing place, Jonouchi-kun. Maybe you'll be able to see it one day."

Jonouchi shrugged. "I dunno about that, I just know it's boring without you around as entertainment."

Marik raised an eyebrow. _"Who's _the entertainment, koinu?"

Jonouchi growled as Yami Bakura let out another snarl of defeat. Yami Seto stood up from his machine, his eyes turning a darker shade of blue and the black streaks disappearing from his hair as he did so. The normal Seto leaned on top of his machine, looking down at the tomb robber as he angrily pounded his fists on the console.

"Yami Bakura-kun, you suck at these fighting games," he said.

"Shut up, Kaiba," Yami Bakura snarled, before his devil horn-like hair settled down and his eyes softened as the normal Bakura took control of his body once again.

The white haired boy smiled. "That was fun," he said.

Marik rolled his eyes. "Any entertainment at the tomb robber's expense is fun," he replied. He then held up a golden ring hanging from around his neck. "Are you sure you don't want to force him back into this thing? It's gotta be a pain to always have him around."

Bakura looked at the Millennium Ring for a moment before shaking his head. "No, that's okay," he replied. "Yami Bakura-kun may be an annoying, stuck up, obnoxious kleptomaniac, but I wouldn't want to have it any other way."

Honda made a face, remembering his encounter with Bakura's other half at Duelist Kingdom. "That's an interesting way of putting it," he said dryly. Bakura just shrugged as Seto made his way out from behind the machine his other half had been playing at.

"Anyway, Yugi-kun," he began. "I got a note from Ron-kun a while ago asking us to come over for the rest of the summer. I sent him a reply back, asking him where his house was, but I don't know if he got it yet. That owl he sent was looking a little worse for wear. Either way, when I do get a response from him, would you three want to go?"

"Yeah!" Bakura, Yugi, and Marik managed to exclaim at the same exact time. Just then, Mokuba Kaiba entered the arcade, clutching a note in his hand. He scanned the crowds, before spotting his older brother and racing up to him.

"Onii-sama," he began, "this arrived today. Some weird owl landed right in the bowl I was using to make myself a salad."

Yugi sweatdropped as Seto took the note. "Ron-kun's gotta get a better owl."

Seto, in the meantime, busily scanned the note, muttering to himself. He folded the parchment up when he was done, his usual smirk on his face.

"How soon can you three pack?"

-.oOOo.-

Yugi, Bakura, and Marik pressed themselves against the windows of the low-flying helicopter they were in, drinking in the sight of the English countryside below them. Up in the cockpit, Seto smirked at their reactions. He was about to turn around and ask if one of them wanted to come up and be co-pilot, when something small and leathery with knobby legs smacked against the cockpit windshield. Everyone jumped - Bakura and Yugi screamed - as Seto let out a cry of disgust. He flicked on the windshield wipers, sweeping the potato with legs away.

"What the_hell_ was that!" Marik exclaimed, hardly believing his eyes.

"I have no idea..." Seto trailed off, looking down below.

There was a rickety old house below them that looked so crooked, Seto was afraid the force of the helicopter's whirling blades would blow it down. Next to it was an even more beat up garage, and spreading out from the back of the house was a fairly large garden. Considering the whole place looked like it was held together by magic, and the whatever-it-was that smacked against the windshield, he had to assume that they had arrived at the Weasley house. He brought the helicopter in even lower, bringing it to a gentle rest in a small field near the house. Yugi, Bakura, and Marik jumped out as Seto stayed behind, shutting down the systems. A group of red heads and one skinny brown haired boy approached them, coming from the garden.

"You guys made it!" Ronald Weasley exclaimed, reaching them first with his twin brothers, Fred and George, not that far behind.

"Did you have any trouble finding the house?" George asked as Seto joined them. He was about to answer the question, when something squished under his foot. He looked down to see he had stepped on another one of the leathery, animated potatoes with legs. He let out a cry of disgust, kicking the odd little creature away from him.

"Nope, no trouble," Marik answered for him, chuckling. Fred winced.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "We just finished de-gnoming the garden. You should have seen Harry! He lobbed one a good fifty feet!"

A sort of embarrassed, lopsided grin appeared on Harry Potter's face as Fred pounded him on the back. The foreign boys were about to ask what a de-gnoming was supposed to be, when there came the sound of a door slamming, and the Weasleys perked up at the sound.

"Dad's home!" Ron shouted, running back into the house.

The others followed close behind (Seto making sure he did not step on anymore of the ugly creatures). The Weasley boys went to a balding, red-haired man in dusty green robes, while Yugi and the others looked around the kitchen they had walked into. In the sink, plates where washing themselves, and then getting patted dry by towels before storing themselves into cabinets. A large grandfather clock in the corner had not two hands but six, each with a picture of one of the Weasleys on it; and instead of numbers, there were phrases like "Time to feed the chickens" or "You're late" along the edge. There were several cooking books piled up near the stove, the titles of which made the four boys quite concerned on what the pages contained. It was all rather cramped, but it was a cozy kind of cramped.

Mr. Weasley was saying something about enchanted objects, when suddenly, someone exclaimed, _"LIKE CARS FOR INSTANCE!"_

Everyone jumped, turning to see Mrs. Weasley standing in the doorframe, welding a fire poker like a sword. Mr. Weasley gulped at the positively enraged look on his wife's face, as Marik leaned down to whisper into Yugi's ear.

"At least we know who wears the pants in this family," he whispered in Japanese. Both Yugi and Yami Yugi bit back a laugh.

"Just to let you know," Mrs. Weasley snarled, "your sons flew that enchanted car of yours all the way to Surrey and back last night."

"Really?" Mr. Weasley asked. "How did it go?"

The boys chuckled as Mr. Weasley ducked to avoid the poker as his wife swung it at him.

"I-I-I-I mean, that was a very wrong thing for you to do," he stammered.

Ron pulled Harry, Yugi, Bakura, Marik, and Seto aside, tugging them up the stairs to the top floors of the house.

"Let's leave them at it," he said. "They'll be going on like that for the rest of the afternoon."

"Afternoon?" Yugi asked, checking his wristwatch (the one with the Black Magician on it that he had gotten from Seto for Christmas). "Wasn't it the afternoon when we left Japan?"

"Time change, Yugi-kun," Bakura reminded him.

"Oh, yeah..."

They went up the spiraling staircase, going up to what felt like the very top of the house before coming to a door marked "Ron's Room". They entered, and though Yugi had no trouble, everyone else had to duck to avoid smacking their heads on the sloping ceiling. Everything in Ron's room seemed to be the same bright orange, and it took them a moment to realize that he had posters of the same seven witches and wizards taped onto the walls, all of them waving energetically.

"Your Quidditch team?" Harry asked.

"Yup, the Chudley Cannons," he answered, pointing to his bedspread, which had two interlacing "C"s with a cannonball shooting through them. "They're ninth in the league."

Ron plopped down on the bed, pushing aside a comic book of _The Adventures of Martian Miggs, the Mad Muggle._ Everyone else found somewhere to sit as well, while Harry went over to the window to look out at the garden below.

"I know it's not much," Ron continued, talking about the room. "It's small, and I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic."

"Who are you kidding, Ron-kun?" Marik asked. "This place is great!"

Ron's whole face went pink.


	2. Kamisama, You have a Sick Sense of Humor

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER TWO - KAMI-SAMA, YOU HAVE A SICK SENSE OF HUMOR**

A few days later, Ron received a message from Hermione saying that she would be at Diagon Alley the upcoming Wednesday. Marik was particularly happy to be able to see her again, which drew groans from everyone else. When the day arrived for them to leave, however, Mrs. Weasley gathered everyone in front of the fireplace and took a flowerpot filled with a strange, glittery gray powder from the mantel. Seto eyed the substance warily.

"What are we supposed to do with that?" he asked.

"You've never traveled by Floo Powder before, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"By _what?"_

"Whoops, sorry guys," Ron said. "I forgot that you haven't."

"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at the pot.

"It's really simple," Fred said, taking a small handful of the powder. "Watch closely now."

The Weasley twin ducked into the fireplace, holding out the hand with the Floo Powder in it. He shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and tossed the substance to the floor of the fireplace. Green flames shot up immediately, and in a blink of an eye, Fred had vanished. Yugi let out a shout of surprise as the others just stared, disbelieving.

"Um... I think... I'm just going to get my helicopter," Seto said. He made like he was going to leave, but George grabbed him by the arm and pushed him toward the pot.

"C'mon, now!" the English boy exclaimed. "You'll most likely have to do this eventually. Better to do it now with us around to help you."

Seto gulped reflexively, before grabbing a handful of the powder.

"Remember, dear, speak_very_ clearly and you should be fine," Mrs. Weasley encouraged as he made his way into the fireplace. He took a deep breath before shouting, "Diagon Alley!" and tossing the Floo Powder to the ground.

What happened next was something that Seto never, ever wanted to experience again. It felt like a jet plane was pulling him along, going up and up, and spiraling amongst a sea of sickening green stuff the whole way. Something smacked against one of his elbows, and he tucked it in, trying not to focus on the swirling mass of green before him. After what seemed like an eternity, he fell face first through another fireplace, coughing and sputtering the whole way.

"You all right there, Seto?" Fred asked as he stood up, helping him shake some of the dust and ash from his cloak. Seto looked up, blinking in the sunlight as he shook the offending substances from his now mussed up hair. They were standing in the middle of the square in Diagon Alley, and the fireplace he just fell out of was one of four in a semi circle, each of which occasionally had people falling out of them.

"I never want to do that again," Seto declared, getting a chuckle out of Fred.

"Don't worry so much," he said as Marik came tumbling out of a fireplace. "You'll get used to it."

The Egyptian jumped to his feet, a broad grin on his face. "That was cool."

Seto fixed him with an annoyed look. "You're mental," he declared as Bakura came tumbling out next, his white hair gray with soot, making him look like an old man.

"That was... interesting," he said, trying to shake out his hair as the rest of the Weasley tribe appeared one after the other.

"All right, ready to go, dears?" Mrs. Weasley asked, shaking the soot from her hat.

"Hold on," George said, looking around. "Where's Harry?"

"Yugi's missing too!" Marik exclaimed.

Seto looked around as well. This was not good...

-.oOOo.-

Yugi sat back on his knees, fighting back a cough, as he looked around at the odd place him and Harry had managed to fall out of. The store was definitely not one that they would ever have to go to for their Hogwarts supplies. A gnarled hand rested on a cushion nearby, a group of miniature human heads floated in a jar in an adjacent case, and bones of various animals were littered about. Various masks stared down at them from the walls, unnervingly reminding Yugi of his and Seto's duel with Hikari-no-Kamen and Yami-no-Kamen back in Battle City, the both of whom dueled with decks focused on various masks and masked monsters.

"Are you okay, Harry-kun?" he asked, helping his friend to his feet.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "I'm okay... but..."

He trailed off, holding up what was left of his horn-rimmed glasses. The bridge of the glasses had snapped in half. Yugi frowned, not pleased.

"Well, can you at least see enough to get out of here?" he asked, waving a hand in front of his face. Harry blinked, squinting.

"I should be all right," he said, "but I'll probably need you to give me a hand."

Yugi was about to suggest that they get out of there, when he caught sight of something through the store window that made him frown: Draco Malfoy, and a tall blonde man that could only be his father. Looking around frantically, he spotted a normal looking black closet and shoved Harry into it before he could protest. He jammed himself in as well and pulled the doors closed, leaving a crack big enough for the two of them to see through, as Draco and Mr. Malfoy entered the store. The latter of the two rang a bell on the counter before turning to his son.

"Don't touch anything, Draco," he said.

Draco crossed his arms, a spoiled annoyed look on his face. "I thought you said you'd buy me a present."

"I said I would buy you a racing broom," Mr. Malfoy replied, a slightly annoyed look on his narrow face.

Draco snorted in response. "What good will it do me if I'm not on the team?" he asked, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Harry Potter and Marik Ishitar got their Nimbus Two-Thousands last year, with special permission from Dumbledore to play for Gryffindor. Potter isn't even that good, either. It's because he's _famous_. Famous Harry Potter with his precious _scar."_

Mr. Malfoy fixed his son with a scathing look. "I've heard this conversation before, Draco."

"But, father, it's not fair," Draco protested. "Potter and those foreign boys are freaks of nature, yet they get special treatment from all the teachers. Even Professor Snape treats that Mutou boy with respect. It's disheartening for_normal_ wizards."

Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I admit, I was not thrilled when I heard not one but four, sixteen-year-old foreigners would be attending the school. Keep in mind, though, Draco, it would not be prudent to be less than fond of them or Potter, as you so clearly have discovered. Ah, Mr. Borgin!"

An ugly sort of man appeared behind the counter, stooping over slightly and running a hand through his greasy black hair. He reminded Yugi of a hunchback version of Professor Snape. Mr. Borgin and Mr. Malfoy starting talking back and forth, haggling over something that the later was selling. Yugi and Harry were not paying attention to them, however. Their focus was on Draco, who was wandering around the store, looking at the various items for sale. He spotted the closet they were hiding in, and they slapped a hand over each other's mouths to keep themselves from being heard.

Draco reached a hand out toward the closet handle...

"Done," Mr. Malfoy suddenly declared. "Come, Draco."

Yugi and Harry nearly sighed in relief as Draco turned around. Father and son left the store, and Mr. Borgin retreated to the back room, muttering obscenities under his breath. Yugi and Harry waited a moment before bolting out of the closet and the store. The older boy let out a gasp as they emerged on the dusty and dirty streets beyond. Stores dedicated to the dark arts lined up before them, and several witches and wizards gave them odd looks as they passed.

"Where are we?" Harry asked. Yugi looked around, spotting a sign on a street corner.

"Some place called Knockturn Alley," he answered, grabbing him by the arm and giving it a tug. "Either way, let's get the heck out of here."

He pulled him along behind him as he made his way down the street, looking for something that would point him to a place he was familiar with. Nothing stood out, however, and Yugi was to the point where he was going to ask one of the wizards and witches lurking around for directions.

"Not lost, are you dears?" a crackling old voice came from above them. Yugi and Harry spun around to see a particularly gnarled old witch, carrying a platter with what looked eerily like human fingers.

Yugi gulped. "N-n-n-no... w-w-w-we're j-j-just f-f-fine."

The two of them started to back away from her as she held a hand out toward them. "Why don't you come with me dearies? I'll help you find your way..."

"Harry! Yugi! What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"

They spun around again as the witch backed off and retreated into the shadows. Up above them, standing at the top of a flight of stairs, was a giant of a man in a fur overcoat with a bushy black beard and kindly beetle black eyes. The two of them raced up to Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper, grateful to see him again.

"What are yeh two doin' in Knockturn Alley?" he asked them, hauling them into the sunlight next to a sign marked Diagon Alley and not that far from Gringotts, the wizard's bank. "Dodgy place that is. Don' want no one ter see yeh down there."

"We were lost, Hagrid-san," Yugi explained as the giant started brushing them off, hitting them with enough force to knock them to the ground. "It was our first time using this Floo Powder stuff."

"What were_you_ doing down there anyway?" Harry asked, dodging as Hagrid went to brush him off again.

_"I_ was lookin' fer flesh eatin' slug repellent," Hagrid replied. "They're ruinin' the cabbages at school. Yer not on yer own, are yeh?"

"No, we're staying with the Weasleys," Harry answered. "We've gotta find them."

"Harry! Yugi!" someone shouted.

The two boys looked up to see a bushy brown-haired girl in a plaid pleated skirt and shirt with a wizard robe that had the Gryffindor house crest on the side like theirs did. Hermione Granger raced up to them, giving both of them a warm hug.

"It is so_wonderful_ to see you two again!" she exclaimed. "Are you coming to Gringotts?"

"As soon as we find the others," Harry answered.

"Yeh won't have long ter wait," Hagrid announced, pointing down the street. They turned to see the Weasleys, Marik, Bakura, and Seto running toward them, looking quite a bit concerned and relieved all at once.

"How come you always manage to get into trouble?" Seto asked, brushing off what soot Hagrid had missed from Yugi's hair as Mr. Weasley took Harry's glass and handed them back to him a moment later, good as new.

"Where did you guys come out at?" Ron asked.

"Knockturn Alley," Yugi answered.

_"Wicked!"_Fred and George exclaimed. Yugi and Harry just rolled their eyes.

-.oOOo.-

After a quick stop at Gringotts Bank, everyone separated once again. The Weasley twins went off with their friend from school, Lee Jordan, saying something about a new gag shop that opened up. Mrs. Weasley took Ginny, the youngest of the Weasley children and the only girl, to get her new school supplies, as she would be starting at Hogwarts that term. Mr. Weasley had taken Hermione's parents aside, jabbering at length about their lives as Muggles. That left Hermione, Marik, Yugi, Harry, Ron, Seto, and Bakura all to themselves with their own bags full of money, some of which quickly got spent on new parchment, ink, and quills before they went off to look at the other stores.

They had to meet back with the Weasleys in an hour at Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore where they would be getting their new textbooks. After a half hours worth of looking around at stores, the seven friends settled down at an ice cream shop, ordering up strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice cream and catching up with one another before they had to go to the store.

"...So Seto took that moment to show up at the arcade and surprise everyone," Marik was saying, gesturing wildly. "You should have seen it, Hermi-chan. I've never seen Jonouchi-kun so shocked."

Hermione giggled as Seto added, "No one was expecting me to come back a 'nice guy'. I found it all quite humorous."

Yugi chuckled. "I've gotta admit, Seto, I honestly thought you'd never change."

Seto took a spoonful of his ice cream, shaking his head. "It's my yami's fault," he said, half of a smirk forming on his face. He motioned to Yugi and then Bakura. "You end up with Pharaoh Smart Ass, you end up with an evil, sadistic tomb robber. Me? I end up with the five-time recipient of the 'Mr. Happy Go Lucky' award."

Marik nearly choked on his ice cream at that very un-Seto-ish statement.

"Be serious, Seto," Harry said, trying not to laugh as Hermione pounded the Egyptian on the back. Seto shrugged nonchalantly.

"Okay," he began, "serious would be that I'm getting a little tired of working on the computer, when all of a sudden I'll get huggled from behind by whom Mokuba has taken to calling my 'good twin'."

"Why, because you're already evil?" Ron asked.

"Precisely," Seto replied sourly. His tone softened then, as a gentle smile appeared on his face. "I understand it though - why I have to have this other self with me. It's like… feeling complete. I haven't felt that way since… well, in a very long time."

Yugi smiled in understanding, knowing what Seto was trying to say. Mokuba had already told him the story of how the Kaiba brothers had really grown up in an orphanage, with only the elder of the two knowing what happened to their real parents. Then, Gonzarou Kaiba - a chess champion - came to the orphanage, and was initially was not going to adopt either of them. Seto had heard stories of how great a man Kaiba was and had grown to admire and respect him, so he challenged him to a chess game, the terms being that if Seto won, he would have to adopt him and his brother. It turned out to be the one victory Seto would ever regret.

They all finished their ice cream, and made their way to the bookstore, only to find that they were not the only ones planning to go there. A whole mass of people, mostly witches, were crammed around the store. The reason for the odd volume of activity was proclaimed on a shining banner hanging just below the sign for the store.

GILDEROY LOCKHART  
will be signing copies of his autobiography  
_MAGICAL ME_  
today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione squealed, scrambling to fix her hair. "We'll actually get to meet him!"

Marik sweatdropped, a bit of a jealous tint coming to his face. "So?"

The seven of them somehow miraculously managed to squeeze into the bookshop. Each of them grabbed a copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ before joining the Weasleys and Mr. and Mrs. Granger in the huge mass of people.

"Oh, there you are dears," Mrs. Weasley said distractedly, continuously patting her hair. "He should be coming out any moment now."

After a moment, a wizard in forget-me-not blue robes and wizard's cap emerged from behind a curtain to the applause of all the ladies in the store (and Marik's jealous grumbling). His eyes were the same color as his flashy robes, and his hat was set at a jaunty angle over his wavy blonde hair. He smiled a brilliant smile, showing off rows of perfect white teeth and making a couple witches in the crowd faint.

Yugi just stared, at a loss for words. Whatever he had been expecting when he thought of Lockhart, it was not this bishounen wannabe that stood before them.

_This... is pathetic..._ Yami Yugi muttered.

_I guess you where right, Yami Yugi-kun,_ Yugi replied. _He_is _a prude._

A small old man flitted about, clicking away furiously with a camera. He bumped into Ron, forcing all of them to take a step back.

"Out of the way," he said, rather rudely. "This is for the _Daily Prophet."_

"Big deal," Ron grumbled, nursing his foot where the reporter had stepped on it. Lockhart had obviously heard what he had said, for he focused his gaze on him. He was about to say something, when he caught sight of Harry standing just behind him.

"It_can't_ be Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. The crowd parted, and Harry tried to run for it, but Lockhart grabbed him and dragged him to his side, shaking his hand furiously and smiling as the reporter clicked away.

"Smile, Harry," Lockhart encouraged, "between the two of us we'll make the front page."

The clicking continued on for what seemed like hours before Lockhart finally let go of Harry's hand. He tried to make a break for it, nursing his nearly limp hand along the way, but the flashy man grabbed him around the shoulders, pinning him to his side.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lockhart announced, holding up his other hand for quiet. "When young Mr. Potter stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he not only wanted to pick up a copy of my complete works - which I will now present to him, free of charge -" The crowd applauded as he was handed a stack of Lockhart's books, much to Harry's displeasure. "He had_no idea_that him and his class mates would be getting the real magical me. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that this September, I will be working at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

The crowd broke out in applause again as Harry wormed his way out of the limelight, going over to Ginny and dumping the books into her cauldron. Seto, Marik, Yugi, and Bakura were just staring at Lockhart as he started signing books, hardly believing what they had just heard.

"He's kidding right?" Bakura asked. "That was a joke, right?"

Seto cast his eyes up to the sky. "Kami-sama," he muttered, "you have a_sick_ sense of humor."

They were about to make their way out of the crowded store, when a shout from Ginny caught their attention. They turned to see that Draco Malfoy was harassing her and Harry. Seto managed to reach him first, a snarl on his face as he took the Millennium Rod in hand.

"You never learn, do you?" he asked, crossing his arms and making sure that Malfoy could clearly see the Rod. "I wasn't the one out, but I seem to remember your first punishment being something along the lines of shrinking you down to the size you brought people to when you insulted them. Are you asking for a round two?"

Draco smirked and was about to come back with a witty comment, when his father suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, putting a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Now, now, Draco," Mr. Malfoy said. "Remember what I told you about how to treat foreign... guests."

The four of them frowned, not pleased by the way he had said that. He looked at each of them, smirking at their displeased expressions before returning his focus to Seto.

"Ah, yes, you must be Seto Kaiba, the one in charge of that..._muggle_ game corporation," he sneered. "Amazing how low the quality of students has dropped."

Seto fixed him with his classic cold stare; the one he had used to break rival businessmen and duelists alike. Mr. Malfoy did not even flinch, however, as he turned his focus to Marik.

"Marik Ishitar," he stated. "You've made quite a name for yourself as a Quidditch seeker, about as much as Mr. Potter. Not bad, considering you were in charge of that criminal organization."

Marik flinched, grateful that Hermione was still preoccupied with getting her book signed.

"Just goes to show what kind of riff-raff Dumbledore allows at that school," Mr. Malfoy continued, glancing briefly at Bakura. "Including those possessed by common thieves."

Bakura was so busy trying to prevent Yami Bakura from jumping out of his Soul Room and attacking the man that he did not even bother to comment. Mr. Malfoy at last came to Yugi, who was glaring up at him. He would have let Yami Yugi take over to play a Yami-no-Game with this heartless man a long time ago if there were not so many people around that could possibly get hurt.

"So, this is the small scrap of a boy that a pharaoh chooses to take up as a host," Mr. Malfoy commented idly, poking the Millennium Puzzle with a diamond topped cane. Seto and Marik were about to leap on him for that remark, but Yugi backed away from him, holding a hand over the Puzzle.

"Look, but don't touch," he warned. "I'm not responsible for the consequences when people piss him off."

Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes just as Mr. Weasley came pushing his way through the crowd, dragging his sons along behind him.

"Well now, boys," he began. "What say we get out of here and leave the ladies to -"

"Ah, Arthur Weasley," Mr. Malfoy interrupted coldly. "How goes it at the Ministry of Magic? With all those raids, I do hope they're paying you overtime."

He brushed past the boys rather rudely to get to Ginny's cauldron, and pulled out a very battered, very old copy of _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration._ He looked the cover over at several angles, a disgusted sneer on his face.

"Obviously not," he commented dryly, dropping the book back into the cauldron with a double _thunk._

Mr. Malfoy whirled about then, urging his son out of the store and leaving everyone glaring at their retreating backs, each of them plotting ways to get back at him for insulting them. Marik pounded a fist into his open palm, a snarl on his face.

"Malfoy, kisama..." he growled.

Seto just shook his head sadly, putting the Millennium Rod back in its hiding place under his robes. "Like father, like son."


	3. The Return to Hogwarts

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

Mrs. Weasley's rant is excerpted.

**CHAPTER THREE – THE RETURN TO HOGWARTS**

Seto rolled over in his makeshift bed on the floor of Ron's room, letting out a tired yawn as he gradually opened his eyes. He only found himself staring at a tanned armpit, however, and he sat up really fast, glaring at the person next to him. Marik was sprawled out on his own makeshift bed, snoring rather loudly and muttering about Hermione in-between. Seto rolled his eyes, before a sly smirk came to his face. He took his pillow in hand, and…

_WHACK! _

Marik came sputtering awake just as Seto's pillow hit his face. He glared up at him, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"Do you _mind!"_ he demanded.

"Not at all," Seto replied, tossing his pillow back to its proper spot. He ran a hand through his hair, grabbing his watch from where he had dropped it before falling asleep the previous night. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed, scrambling to wake up Ron and Harry. "We were supposed to be up an hour ago!"

"Shimata!" Marik exclaimed, shaking Yugi and Bakura awake next to him.

Before long, the six boys were scrambling about, making sure that they were dressed properly and their trunks were packed with their robes on top so they could easily grab them. Then it was off to the kitchen to try to get some bacon sandwiches before they all had to pile into the Weasley car, an aging Ford Anglia. Anglia's were supposed to be very narrow, cramped cars; however, not so oddly, the back and front seats had been expanded so it could easily fit the Weasley tribe as well as their guests without looking any different from a normal car. Yugi suspected that that had been Mr. Weasley's doing, though Mrs. Weasley did not seem to notice that there was not supposed to be that much space.

After three stops because the twins and Ginny forgot something, they were off with Mr. Weasley driving as fast as he could. They arrived at King's Cross Station with just fifteen minutes before they all had to go through the portal that would take them to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and the Hogwarts Express. Mr. Weasley scrambled to get them trolleys, and soon they were all lined up at the divider between platforms nine and ten. Percy was the first to go, followed quickly by Yugi and Marik, then Mr. Weasley and the twins, then Bakura and Seto, and then Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.

It was not until after the boys and Ginny were settled on the train, and they had joined up once again with Hermione and Percy had gone off to the prefect's car, that Yugi realized they were two people short.

"Where're Harry-kun and Ron-kun?" he asked, frowning in concern.

"Well, maybe they got separated and are in another car," Hermione suggested. She stood up, tugging Ginny to her feet as well. "We'll go look."

"We'll go too," Fred offered, pulling his twin to his feet and following the girls out. Seto waited a moment, before shutting the door behind them and leaned against it.

"I was hoping we'd get some time to ourselves," he said in Japanese before sitting down again, a bit of a disturbed look on his face.

"What's wrong, Seto-kun?" Bakura asked.

Seto shook his head. "Maybe it's nothing, but I can't help but feel that we're heading into danger again."

"Hey, Seto-kun, we've already defeated Voldemort… again," Marik amended. "What's the worst that could happen now?"

"If nothing else bad is going to happen, then why is our story still going on?" Seto pressed. "Think about it, guys. I'm forced to take up the Millennium Rod, and then release my other self. Marik ends up with the Millennium Ring after the tomb robber moves into Bakura. Then there's the other added bonus of every time Harry's in danger, we can feel it."

Through his tirade, Yugi had developed a thoughtful look on his face. He held the Millennium Puzzle in his hands, looking down at it as Bakura started arguing back. He waited until they were done yelling at each other before he added his own opinion.

"The Millennium Items are choosing new owners."

The other three boys looked at him, surprised. Yugi took a deep breath before continuing.

"This is just a thought, but…" he began. "I know that Marik had the Rod, Isis had the Tauk, Bakura had the Ring, Pegasus had the Eye, and Shadi had the Scale and the Ankh long before I ever even saw the Puzzle; but… When I assembled the Puzzle, something happened that altered who the Items chose as their owners. I was obviously chosen by the Puzzle. Seto was chosen by the Rod, and Marik by the Ring. Bakura, since the Eye hasn't protested about being with you, I guess it chose you. That leaves the Tauk, Scale, and Ankh without owners."

"So what happens when they _do_ get owners?" Marik asked.

Yugi shrugged helplessly. "I haven't thought about that," he replied. "All I know is that somehow, Harry and the others are tied in with all this. I don't know how, but they are, and they'll be in just as much danger as we are—"

There was a knock on the door then, cutting Yugi off. Seto got up to open it, revealing the girls and Weasley twins on the other side.

"We can't find Harry and Ron anywhere," the twins announced, plopping down in their seats.

"I don't see where they could have gone," Ginny said, sitting down across from Bakura. "They were right behind me and mum when we went through the barrier."

Yugi sighed, hardly believing what was going on. They were getting into trouble already, and term had not even started yet.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi patted his stomach happily as he made his way up to the Gryffindor common room at Hogwarts, satisfied with the wonderful meal he had just had. The only odd part of the whole dinner were the wild rumors that someone had flew a car into a Whomping Willow tree on the school grounds. Considering the various arguments he had heard from the Weasleys, plus the fact that no one had seen hide nor hair of Harry and Ron… assuming the rumors were true, he was almost positive who was behind it.

His suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of the two boys in question standing outside of the painting of the fat lady in the pink dress that guarded the entrance to the common room. He smiled, before running up to them.

"I can't believe you two flew the Anglia to school!" he exclaimed. Ron rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

"It wasn't fun," he said. "Well, it was at first, but…"

"We're just glad to be back," Harry finished. "Anyway, do you know the new password?"

Yugi nodded before turning his attention to the painting. "Wattlebird."

The portrait swung open, to reveal every single Gryffindor packed into the common room, waiting for Harry and Ron. The two boys were grabbed almost immediately and hauled into the room, leaving Yugi to scramble in after them before the portrait closed.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Lee Jordan shouted.

"Why couldn't we fly the car too?" the twins asked.

"I can't believe you crashed the Anglia into a tree!" Marik exclaimed.

"Not just any tree!" Neville Longbottom added. "The Whomping Willow! You two were lucky to survive."

Ron and Harry exchanged sheepish expressions as Yugi giggled.

-.oOOo.-

It never seemed to fail; any time Yugi was excited or worried about something, he could not get to sleep until the ungodly hours of the morning. That night, however, he was both worried and excited; excited over the new school year, and worried over what he had brought up on the train. After a moment of deliberation, he grabbed the Millennium Puzzle from its resting place and padded across the bedroom – careful not to step on Marik's pet cat, Rishid – and made his way down to the common room. He settled into a comfortable easy chair next to the fireplace and set the Puzzle on the chair next to him. Yami Yugi appeared almost immediately, a slight smirk on his face.

"This looks familiar," he commented, getting a chuckle out of his hikari. "Aibou," he continued, serious, "what you said on the train; you left out seeing Osiris in our Soul Corridor."

Yugi looked down at his feet, swinging them back and forth. "I still don't understand what happened," he explained. "I mean, I know it was Osiris that I saw, but I thought the God Cards' powers were dispelled."

"Their power to restore my memory was dispelled," Yami Yugi corrected. "If their own power had been dispelled, we wouldn't even be able to use them with our Duel Disks. Besides, a world where a God doesn't exist is a vacant world."

"Oh," Yugi replied, feeling a bit stupid. They were quiet for a while, when Yami Yugi spoke up again.

"Aibou, what do you know about the old stories?" he asked.

"You mean Egyptian mythologies?" Yugi replied. "Only what you've told me. Why?"

His other half got that stony look on his face; that look that said he was hiding something. "No reason."

Yugi got in his face. "Liar."

Yami Yugi turned to his hikari, an eyebrow raised in amusement. Yugi giggled at his reaction, before giving him a slight jab in the shoulder.

"C'mon, tell me now," he urged. "I'll find out eventually anyway."

Yami Yugi sighed and shook his head, the amused smirk still on his face, settling back in the chair as if to get comfortable for a long winded explanation.

"One of the things Egyptians believed the most," he began, "was that one day, Horus and Osiris would return to Earth from Duat, and the final, greatest battle against the evil god, Set, would occur. That is why it was so important for pharaohs that had passed on to be embalmed and hidden away in pyramids, for it was believed that once Horus and Osiris won their battle, all the dead who had led virtuous lives and passed through to Duat would return to the world, and live in an Egypt purged of all wickedness. It would literally be heaven on Earth."

Yugi just stared at his other half through the whole explanation, entranced. "Sugoi…! What made you think of this all of a sudden?"

Yami Yugi picked up the Millennium Puzzle and held it upside down, with the tip of the pyramidal puzzle pointing toward the ceiling.

"When you reassembled this Puzzle, my soul was reborn within you," he said, "and you also ended up with the Osiris card. It might be nothing, but… I think that legend might actually be coming true."

Yugi's eyes grew wider than they normally were at the implications. "But, how does Harry fit into all of this? And the Millennium Items! Why are they choosing new owners?"

His other half held up his hands, urging him to calm down. "I don't know, aibou. Like I said, it could be nothing."

Yugi crossed his arms, frowning at him. "Stop it. I'm the one that's supposed to be optimistic."

Yami Yugi chuckled in spite of himself. "C'mon, aibou," he said, as Yugi stifled a yawn. "We've got a long day ahead of ourselves. Let's at least attempt to get some sleep."

-.oOOo.-

It was about halfway through breakfast the next morning when the mail arrived. Marik was busily scanning through a note from his sister, a piece of toast hanging from his mouth, when something large and gray fell into a jug between him and Hermione, spraying everyone with milk and feathers. He pulled a feather from his hair as Ron grabbed the invading animal by its feet and hauled it out of the jug.

_"Errol!"_ he exclaimed, shaking his head sadly. "Bloody bird's a menace!"

There was a damp red envelope in the bird's mouth and he dropped it, allowing it to flutter to the table, before promptly passing out. Ron was not worried about the owl's condition, however. He was too busy staring at the piece of mail he had gotten.

"Oh no…" he whimpered.

"Look!" Seamus Finnegan exclaimed. "Weasley's got himself a Howler!"

Yugi looked around as everyone at their table started laughing. "Howler?"

"You better open it, Ron," Neville encouraged. "I ignored one from my gran once. It was horrible."

Yugi and Marik's eyes grew wide as the younger boy shivered at the memory. Ron, pale as the Hogwarts ghosts and shaking, slowly opened the envelope. Neville and some other students stuffed fingers into their ears, and the two foreign boys soon found out why.

**_"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE—" _**

Yugi clapped his hands over his ears, wincing as Mrs. Weasley's yells still came through loud and clear. Other students in the hall looked around, trying to see who had gotten the Howler. Ron was so embarrassed, he sunk low under the table, until only his forehead and eyes could be seen.

**_"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED—" _**

Harry sunk below the table too at the mention of his name, looking just as embarrassed as Ron was. Marik was just wondering when it all was going to stop.

**_"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED – YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!" _**

Silence reigned through the Great Hall as the red envelope – having fallen out of Ron's hands a long time ago – burst into flame and crumpled away into nothingness. Both Harry and Ron were shivering, staring at where the envelope had been in wide-eyed shock as the hall returned to its normal volume of chatter. Hermione just shook her head as the two of them numbly sat up properly in their seats.

"I don't know what you two were expecting, but –"

Marik put a hand on her shoulder, cutting her off. "Don't, Hermi-chan," he said. "No one deserved _that." _

Yugi's ears were still ringing from the verbal assault as Professor McGonagall started passing out course schedules for her house. He took his, and was excited to see that they had double Herbology with Hufflepuff house first. The five of them waffled down the rest of their breakfast before heading out the main entrance of the school and swinging around to the greenhouses, where most of the rest of the class was already assembled. Bakura waved to them energetically as they approached.

"This is great," he said. "We get to hang out more often than last year. Hey, Ron, you all right? That Howler thing was _awful." _

"You weren't on the receiving end," Ron replied weakly.

Just then, Professor Sprout came down the lawn, in the company of Gilderoy Lockhart. The normally perky woman had a downright scowl on her face, tossing an occasional glare at the other professor, who was wearing flashy robes of turquoise with a similarly colored hat. He waved to them casually, and some of the girls giggled, including Hermione. Marik fixed the professor with a jealous glare while Yugi, Harry, Ron, and Bakura rolled their eyes.

"Hello there, ladies and gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "Just showing Professor Sprout the proper way to doctor a Whomping Willow."

Professor Sprout glared at him, looking like she had not needed the "help" the other professor had provided.

"All right, chaps," she said loudly, cutting off Lockhart as he kept going on about how he had come across several Whomping Willows in the past. "It's greenhouse three today."

A murmur of interest went through the crowd of students. Greenhouse three supposedly contained some of the more dangerous plants in the world of magic. This was confirmed as, when the professor unlocked the greenhouse in question, a leathery roar reached their ears. Professor Sprout went in and smacked a tall plant with raspberry red flowers blossoming on it. It whimpered before falling silent, much to everyone else's amusement as they filed into the greenhouse.

"Oh, good woman, might you mind if I borrow Mr. Potter for a moment?" Lockhart asked, clasping a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry tried to break away from him as Professor Sprout opened her mouth to say no, when the flashy professor cut her off. "Thanks. You're a wonderful woman."

He closed the greenhouse door in their faces, just as Marik was going to leap forward and grab Harry away. The Egyptian smacked against it instead, leaving an indentation on his forehead the same pattern as the offending door. He rubbed it, muttering curses under his breath in all four languages he knew as Hermione patted him on the back.

After a moment, Harry returned, looking a bit disbelieving. Professor Sprout put her hands on her hips, shaking her head sadly as he rejoined his friends.

"Anyway," she said, a bit of her cheeriness coming back. "We'll be replanting Mandrakes today. Who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake…?"


	4. The Voice from Nowhere

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER FOUR – THE VOICE FROM NOWHERE**

After a grueling Transfiguration class that morning, Yugi, Marik, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went down with the rest of the school for lunch. Ron kept tapping on his wand, the tip of which was hastily taped on with spell-o-tape. Sparks flew out from the obvious crack in it, and after awhile, he just gave up on it, stuffing it into his bag. He explained to Marik, Hermione, and Yugi that the wand had snapped in half when they crashed into Whomping Willow as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"So why don't you just write home for another one?" Yugi suggested.

"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler," Ron replied. _"It's your own fault your wand broke…"_

Harry made a face. "Good point," he said. "Anyway, what do we have next?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione answered immediately, as Marik took her schedule to look over. After a moment, he face literally turned green with jealously.

_"Why_ in the name of Ra do you have all of Lockhart's classes outlined with hearts!" he demanded.

She turned bright red before snatching her schedule back from him. Harry laughed out loud as Marik started on what sounded like extensive swearing in Japanese (little did he know that the Egyptian was really questioning Lockhart's preferences) when a blinding flash of light went off almost directly in his face. He blinked, colors swimming before his eyes, as a mousy-haired boy holding an old fashioned Muggle camera came into focus.

"All right there, Harry?" he asked. "I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too. It's so wonderful to finally get to meet you! You think you could sign my photo when I get it developed?"

All of this came out of the little boy's mouth in a rush, and it took Harry a moment to grasp what he said. When he finally did, he was about to stammer out a reply when someone beat him to it.

"Oy, what's this now, Potter?" Malfoy sneered from behind him, standing there with his hands on his hips and his bodyguards on either side. "Are you handing out signed photos now?"

Marik glared up at the pale blonde boy. "I thought I smelled something foul coming this way."

Malfoy smirked. "Are you sure it wasn't your own body odor coming back to your nose?"

Marik stood up threateningly, grabbing his wand from his robe pocket. Before he could do anything, however, Hermione grabbed him and pulled him back down into his seat as everyone's "favorite" bishounen approached.

"What's all this now? What's all this?" Lockhart asked. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Harry tried to duck under the table, but it was no use. The flashy professor grabbed him and hauled him up out of his seat.

"Tsk, tsk. Harry Potter! I should have known!" he exclaimed, before crushing Harry to his side. "Take a picture of us, Mr. Creevey, and we'll both sign it for you."

Colin started taking rapid-fire pictures as Harry turned beet red, trying to wriggle his way out of Lockhart's iron grasp. After what seemed like an eternity, the bell signaling the start of afternoon classes rang, and Colin took off. Unfortunately, Lockhart kept Harry crushed to his side, dragging him along down the hallway to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and leaving his friends running to catch up.

"Now, Harry, I _understand_ you want to further your career," he said almost paternally, ignoring Harry's stammers, "but signing autographs at this stage isn't sensible. Don't worry, once you get to my level, you'll have to carry a whole stack of them around with you, but until that time, patience, Harry, patience."

He let go of him then, entering his classroom and allowing Harry to get his bearings as the others surrounded him.

"What career was he talking about?" Yugi asked, frowning at the door to the classroom.

"He thinks I _want_ to be famous!" Harry exclaimed, brushing off the arm that had been pinned against Lockhart, as if he were afraid some of him was still left over.

"Don't be silly, Harry," Hermione said. "He was just offering you some advice."

Marik rolled his eyes. "Get the stars out of your eyes, Hermi-chan. That guy's a menace."

She pouted as Ron chuckled. "Still, though, Harry. You could have fried an egg on your face," he said. "You better hope Colin doesn't get with Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan club."

"Oh, please, let Lockhart hear you say that," Harry growled.

Marik smirked, looking down to Yugi. "Aw, c'mon, it can't be nearly as bad as the Yugi Mutou fan club."

Yugi turned the same color red as the raspberry tips of his hair. "That is just _embarrassing,"_ he stressed, looking up at the others. "Picture a bunch of people – girls even – with Styrofoam replicas of my hair on their heads. I nearly _died_ when I saw them."

"We found out he had a following over the summer," Marik explained as they entered the classroom and took seats in the back (literally dragging Hermione with them). "Seto-kun hosted another Battle City tournament – I think he's making it an annual thing. Anyway, we went out to register, when we came up on a group of them. One kid even replicated Yugi's deck, with the exception of Osiris of course. Ended up failing spectacularly with it too."

The rest of the class filed into the room, and Lockhart waited until everyone was settled before holding up a copy of one of his books and pointing to his own smiling face on the cover.

"Me," he announced. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of _Witch Weekly's_ Most-Charming-Smile Award… but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by _smiling_ at her!"

He chuckled heartily, winking at the class the same time as the picture on the book. Hermione sighed dreamily, getting a scowl out of Marik. The other boys just shook their heads sadly. Lockhart set the book down and took up an armful of papers.

"Now, these are just simple quizzes to see how much you've read of my books," he announced, passing them out. "You have thirty minutes to complete it."

Yugi looked down at his paper as soon as he got it, a disbelieving look on his face as he read through the questions.

_1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?  
__2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?  
__3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

_I do not believe this,_ Yami Yugi muttered. Then, it was like a light bulb went off, and Yugi could almost picture his other half smiling devilishly. _Aibou, let me take over. _

_You're not going to do anything, are you?_ Yugi asked warily.

_Oh, no… nothing much anyway,_ his other half replied, chuckling slightly.

Yugi was worried, but he let him take over anyway, trusting in the fact that his darker half would not do anything to risk getting expelled. The transformation was brief and without fanfare, so as not to draw attention to themselves. Yami Yugi stretched a bit once he was in control, tossing the others a wink. The boys smirked and Hermione frowned disapprovingly, wondering what he was up to as he started on the paper with a self assured smile on his face.

A half hour later, Lockhart ordered them to pass in their papers. Yami Yugi relinquished control back to his hikari at that time, and Yugi was able to get a good look at his paper before passing it in. He bit down hard on his lower lip, fighting desperately not to laugh out loud. Though he could not understand the majority of it, he did recognize some of what his other half had wrote.

Not only had Yami Yugi managed to thoroughly insult Lockhart on every answer, but he wrote it all with Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"Tut, tut," Lockhart said once he had all the papers, shaking his head. "Hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in _Year with the Yeti_. And a few of you need to read _Wanderings with Werewolves_ more carefully – I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples. Dear me, who wrote this?"

The professor had finally come upon Yugi's paper, who at that point had bent over his desk, head buried in his arms, his whole body shaking with silent laughter. Lockhart flipped through the pages, a thoroughly befuddled look on his face.

"Ah, I see we have a prankster in our class," he said finally. "Well, no matter. This looks a bit Egyptian, and I hear Professor McGonagall knows a little of that dead language."

Yugi stopped laughing at that, his face draining of all color.

_Oh no…_ Yami Yugi muttered, his voice filled with dread. _Aibou, I'm _so_ sorry! We've got to get that paper back! _

_Don't worry about it,_ Yugi said, a bit uneasy. _McGonagall-sensei has got to have a bit of a sense of humor somewhere._

_Hikari, for once I wish you weren't so optimistic,_ Yami Yugi replied sourly as Lockhart went on about how Hermione had answered all the questions on the exam correctly, and awarded Gryffindor ten points.

"Now, to business!" he exclaimed, reaching behind his desk and pulling out a fairly large covered cage. "Keep in mind, it is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures and spells known to wizard kind. You may be confronting your darkest fears in this room…"

In spite of himself, Marik leaned forward in his seat, interested, as Lockhart reached for the cover of the cage.

"I only ask," he said in a deep, haunting voice, "that you do not scream. It might provoke them!"

With that, he flipped the cover off… and even Hermione sweatdropped at the sight of what was underneath. In the cage were what only could be described as pixies; they were electric blue with elfish faces and fluttering wings. As soon as the cover was off, they started rattling against the cage frantically, jabbering in their own odd language. Seamus snorted out a laugh.

"Cornish Pixies!" he exclaimed, hardly believing the professor was being serious.

"Freshly caught Cornish Pixies," Lockhart corrected. Yugi's eyes went wide as he reached for the door to the cage. He wasn't going to do what he was thinking, right? No one was that stupid.

Unfortunately, Lockhart proved him wrong, pulling open the cage door. Utter pandemonium followed, as the pixies sprung free of the cage and zoomed about the room, wrecking havoc. A few of them shot through the window, forcing Harry and the others to duck under the table as glass showered down on them. Neville was grabbed by the ears, and soon found himself hanging from the iron chandelier above.

"Come, come now!" Lockhart exclaimed. "They're only pixies!" He frowned, before pulling out his wand and waving it about flamboyantly. "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

Nothing happened. One of the pixies grabbed the wand and tossed it out the window. By this time, most of the rest of the class had already vacated the room and Lockhart was quick to do the same as the bell rang. He paused at the stairs leading up to his office, looking down at the five friends, who were still hiding under their table.

"I'll just ask you five to clean up the lot of them," he said before bolting out of the room.

"Can you believe that guy!" Ron exclaimed, swatting away a pixie that tried to bite his ear as they emerged from under the desk.

"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," Hermione said, standing back to back with Marik, both of them zapping the pixies that came close with a Freezing Charm before tossing them into their cage.

_"Hands on!"_ Harry exclaimed, him and Yugi trying to grab a pixie that was just out of range.

"Admit it, Hermione," Yugi said, "he didn't have a clue as to what he was doing."

"Nonsense," she replied, "you've read his books. Look at all the amazing things he's done."

"He _says_ he's done," Marik grumbled.

-.oOOo.-

The week went by fast, and that Saturday morning found Yugi walking with a rather cheery spring to his step to the Great Hall. Ron, Hermione, and himself were going to visit Hagrid after watching Harry and Marik's Quidditch practice session. He was just about to start whistling his favorite song, when he nearly collided with a rather moody Professor McGonagall. She fixed him with a cold look before reaching into a pocket a pulling out a piece of paper: the exam that Yami Yugi had written on. Yugi fought back a nervous gulp.

"Mr. Mutou," she began, "did you or your other self write this?"

Yugi was about to stutter out an explanation, when Yami Yugi appeared next to him. He was faded and washed out as he always was when he appeared outside of his body, and he had a half-frantic, half-pleading look on his face.

"Professor, please, don't blame my hikari!" he exclaimed, standing before him protectively (never mind the fact that she could see right through him). "It wasn't his fault. It was all my idea. Don't –"

McGonagall held up a hand, cutting him off. "Thank you," she said wearily. "It was the best laugh I had in quite a long time, but don't do it again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have detentions to hand out."

Yugi and Yami Yugi stared at her, shocked, as she continued on her way to the Great Hall. After a moment, they turned to each other, exchanging dumbfounded expressions, before they collapsed on top of one another, back to back, letting out a sigh of relief as they sunk to the floor.

"That was too close," Yugi muttered. "I never want to get that close to a detention again."

"Sorry about that, aibou," Yami Yugi said, but his other half waved the apology away as a Ravenclaw girl walked by. His hikari said something, but he was too busy looking.

"Are you listening?" Yugi asked.

"I like the view down here," Yami Yugi mused. Yugi rolled his eyes, standing up and grabbing his darker half by the ear.

"Hentai," he mumbled, pulling the protesting pharaoh to the Great Hall.

-.oOOo.-

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly, scribbling the address for Veronica Smethley while fighting back a yawn. It was a futile effort though, considering he had had to get up at the crack of dawn for Quidditch practice, and now had to listen to Lockhart ramble on and on. He and Ron had received their detentions for flying the Anglia into the Whomping Willow at the beginning of the week, and he _unfortunately_ had to help Lockhart answer his fan mail, while Ron only had to help Filch polish the trophies in the Trophy Room.

Though, now that he thought about it, Ron probably ended up with the greater of the two evils. He had tried to cast a spell on Malfoy earlier, but his wand backfired on him, and he ended up burping out slugs.

Harry reluctantly went to grab another envelope, when a cold, chilling voice reached his ears over Lockhart's annoying prattle.

_Come… come to me… Let me rip you… Let me tear you… Let me kill you… _

He looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice. Even Lockhart noticed the terrified look on his face.

"My good boy, what's troubling you?" he asked.

"Can't you hear that?" he asked.

Lockhart frowned. "I think you've been working with me too long, Harry," he said. "Why don't you go up to your common room and get some sleep."

Confused, and straining to hear the voice again, Harry got up and left. He kept an ear near the walls as he made his way back to the common room, still listening for any word from the voice. He was so preoccupied with his strange activity, that he did not notice Malfoy coming down the other way until he crashed into him.

"Bloody hell, Potter!" he snapped, steadying himself. "Watch where you're going!"

Harry was about shout back at him, when the voice came again.

_…rip… tear… kill… _

What little color was in Malfoy's face quickly disappeared. "W-w-w-what is that!" he exclaimed.

Harry blinked in surprised. "You can hear it too?"

"Of course I can hear it!" Malfoy snapped.

_…so hungry… for so long…_

The two boys spun around, trying to find a source for the voice.

"Where the devil is it coming from?" Malfoy demanded.

"Shush!" Harry snapped as the voice came again.

_…kill… time to kill… _

"Kill?" Malfoy squeaked.

Harry ignored him, taking off the hallway, following the hissing voice as it chanted _"…kill…kill…" _over and over again. Debating a moment, Malfoy kicked at the ground before following him, deciding that if Harry humiliated himself over this, at least he would be the first one to see it. The two of them stopped dead as the chanting suddenly changed.

_…I smell blood… I SMELL BLOOD! _

The two of them exchanged glances, before bolting off again, flying up a nearby staircase and coming around a corner where they stopped once again. On the wall before them, foot-high words had been painted with what looked eerily like blood.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN  
OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

Draco was about to let loose a scathing remark, when Harry suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth, staring up at something above the words. Annoyed, Malfoy pushed him. He slipped – there was a large puddle of water on the floor – and grabbed the other boy by the robes, trying to steady himself. They both splashed to the ground, and Malfoy glared at Harry as he turned his focus back to the something above the words.

"What is your problem!" he demanded. Harry barely acknowledged him, he just pointed up to where he was staring. Malfoy looked up… and let out a shout of horror and surprise.

There, hanging from a torch bracket by her tail, was Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat. She was stiff as a board, and her creepy red eyes looked like they were bugging out of her head.

"We-we better get out of here," Malfoy stammered.

"No _way,"_ Harry replied. "I'm staying to help."

"Fine, get in trouble," he snapped, shakily getting to his feet. "I'm out of –"

Malfoy was in the middle of turning around to leave, when he nearly smacked into Argus Filch. He let out a squeak of surprise before backing up and tripping over Harry, tumbling to the wet floor again. Filch was hardly paying him any heed; he had seen what was left of Mrs. Norris.

"My cat!" he exclaimed suddenly. "You brats murdered my cat!"


	5. A Little Detective Work

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER FIVE – A LITTLE DETECTIVE WORK**

Yugi stifled a yawn, dipping his quill into his ink and fighting desperately to stay awake. Though it was not due until next Wednesday, he wanted to get his Potions homework done early so he would not have to worry about it if something came up. He was starting to feel like Seto; there was a nagging feeling of doom tugging at the back of his mind. After a moment of scratching his head in confusion, his dark half appeared, hovering above him slightly.

"You've got the answers for five and seven mixed up," Yami Yugi pointed out.

Yugi frowned down at the parchment, before he sweatdropped in embarrassment. "I was wondering why it wasn't making any sense."

He scratched out the answers and switched them as the portrait of the fat lady opened up wide, admitting a scared and shaking Harry Potter. Yugi and Yami Yugi looked up from their homework, concerned by the look on their friend's face.

"Are you all right, Harry-kun?" Yugi asked.

Harry looked up, surprised to see the two of them together at the same time. He got over his shock quickly enough, and he started explaining what happened with Mrs. Norris and how he and Malfoy had narrowly escaped getting detention or worse – expulsion.

"Mrs. Norris was petrified?" Yami Yugi asked once he was finished. "How did that happen?"

Harry shook his head. "I couldn't even begin to tell you."

Yugi rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Why do I have a feeling we're going to be doing some major detective work?"

-.oOOo.-

Just as Yugi feared, detective work started almost immediately the next morning when everyone gathered together at the library for their normal study session. While Ron was busy trying to figure out how he was going to add another eight inches to his History of Magic homework, Hermione was flitting about in an effort to find more information on the Chamber of Secrets. Marik was "helping" her, though judging from the occasional harsh word they heard from the two of them, he was probably complaining about her affection with Lockhart. Seto shook his head sadly after a particularly scathing remark, looking over his own History of Magic homework before rolling the scroll up.

"The way he's going, if Marik's lucky, him and Hermione might still be friends by the end of the semester," he commented dryly.

Bakura just shook his head. "I don't know why he tries so hard," he said. "When's he going to get it through his head that she's only star-struck over Lockhart?"

Seto smirked. "You've obviously never been in love before."

"Like you have!" the white haired boy shot back, frowning. "I'll get a girlfriend when I'm good and ready. I'm in no rush."

"Hai, hai," Yugi agreed, measuring his homework. Four and a half feet: _way_ over what he needed. He smiled, satisfied, as he rolled up the scroll. Ron eyed his homework.

"Hey, Yugi, can I copy some of yours?" he asked.

"No way," Yugi declared. He absolutely _never_ let anyone copy from him, even back in high school when Jonouchi would practically get on his hands and knees and beg. "Ask Seto."

"Seto…?"

"Ask Bakura."

"Bakura…?"

"Ask Harry."

"Harry…?"

Harry fixed him with a sour look. "Who do you think I copied from?"

Ron banged his head on the table. "Dammit…"

Just then, Hermione and Marik rejoined them, both of them with sour looks on their faces and refusing to look at each other. Harry raised an eyebrow at their behavior, amused.

"Well, find anything?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "No," she answered, "all the copies of _Hogwarts, A History_ are checked out. I couldn't fit my copy with all the Lockhart books; I had to leave it at home. Unless you brought yours, Bakura?"

"Sorry," the white haired boy replied. "I totally forgot about it. Can't you have your parents send it to you?"

She sighed. "I can just picture my parents trying to use the owl post…"

Ron groaned suddenly. "Hermione, can I see your scroll? I only need two more inches!"

"No way," she said, her tone severe. "Ask Marik."

"Marik…?"

"Ask Yugi."

Ron gave up at that point, stuffing the scroll in to his bag.

-.oOOo.-

While the others went off to the greenhouses on Monday mornings, Seto was stuck in double History of Magic with Slytherin. Under normal circumstances, he would be the only one awake, scribbling away notes while the rest of the class dozed. That day, however, he just could not concentrate to save his life. His mind kept wandering to the strange message that had been left on the wall, and what it all meant. He found his gaze drifting idly toward Malfoy, who was half awake, looking out the window. The snobbish boy had been acting oddly since the incident with him and Harry, though he supposed almost being blamed for petrifying a cat would have that kind of effect on a person.

Seto was about to put his head down and perhaps join the rest of the class in catching up on some sleep, when he became aware of something shuffling around. He rolled his eyes before retreating to the Soul Corridor within his mind. He saw his other half's rear end sticking out from his Soul Door, and judging from the sound he was making, he was trying to sort through something.

_You're being awfully loud, you know,_ Seto said, crossing his arms as his usual smirk appeared on his face. Yami Seto craned his neck around to fix his hikari with an annoyed glare.

_Well excuse me, baka hikari,_ he replied. _I'm looking through my memories, trying to find some kind of clues about the Chamber of Secrets._

Seto sweatdropped. _Uh… Yami Seto. Do you need a reminder?_ he asked. _You've been imprisoned in a rod for five thousand years. Hogwarts was founded only a thousand years ago. I don't think you're going to find anything._

Yami Seto fixed his lighter half with a frustrated look. He hated it when he was right.

_Well, fine then,_ he replied, standing up straight. _Why don't you ask Mr. Binns? He's the history teacher… ghost… thingy. He should know about it. _

Seto had to admit, he never thought about that. He left his Soul Corridor and returned to the real world, raising his hand as soon as he did so. Mr. Binns sputtered his explanation to a halt, surprised that someone would even want to interrupt him.

"Yes, Mr.…"

"Kaiba, sir," he answered, lowering his hand. A lot of students stirred, surprised by the sudden change of things. Not only was someone interrupting Mr. Binns, but it was _Seto_ who was doing it! "I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets."

The ghostly professor seemed to frown. "My subject is History of Magic, Mr. Kaiba," he replied. "I deal with solid _facts,_ not myths and legends."

He was about to start droning on again, but Seto would not let him get away with it. He raised his hand again; bringing Mr. Binns to another stuttered halt.

"Sir, don't myths and legends always have basis in fact?" he asked.

Mr. Binns stared at him a bit stupidly. Apparently, no one had ever cared to interrupt him in anything, alive or dead.

"Well… I _suppose_ one could argue that…" he mused. "But the tale you speak of is so absolutely _ludicrous_ that…"

At this point, the whole class was awake, hanging on his every word. Mr. Binns stared at all of them, caught off guard by the sudden show of interest. He threw up his hands, giving in.

"Oh, very well," he snapped. "Let me see… the Chamber of Secrets…

"You all know, of course," the professor began, "that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when common people feared magic, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grown between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more _selective_ about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."

Professor Binns paused a moment at that, a sour look coming to his pale face.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he continued. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.

"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

Seto had been furiously writing everything down until that point. He stared up from his parchment, fearing what that implied.

"Professor, what exactly _is_ the 'horror within' the Chamber?" he asked.

"It is said to be a monster, which only Slytherin could control," Binns answered.

The professor started ranting about how it was all a ridiculous legend, but Seto was not paying attention. His gaze had again drifted to Malfoy. While everyone else had been interested in the story, the pale boy had continued to stare out the window mindlessly, as if it was all nothing he had not heard before. Seto frowned, making a mental note.

-.oOOo.-

Seto told the others about what he had learned in History of Magic as they made their way through the crowded corridors to get to the Great Hall for supper. The news had not set well with them, but when he told them about Malfoy's behavior, it aroused some questions.

"You don't think he could be the one who opened the Chamber, do you?" Marik asked. "I mean, he is a bit of an asshole, and he's _totally _obsessed about being 'pure blood'."

"I don't think so," Harry said, surprised that he was actually _defending _him. "I mean, he seemed pretty surprised to see Mrs. Norris hanging there. And the way he reacted to hearing that voice…"

"Either way," Seto declared, "he knows about the Chamber, and he probably knows something that we don't."

"Well, there is one way we could find out what he knows," Hermione replied, a bit of a devilish look coming to her face. Marik raised an eyebrow, caught off guard by her expression.

"Oh yeah?" Ron asked her. "How are we going to do that? Ask him?"

"Precisely."

Everyone came to a halt at that, staring at her like she had grown another head.

"Come again?" Yugi asked.

"It's quite simple, really, but… mind you, we'll be breaking at least fifty school rules doing it," she said.

"Like that ever stopped us," Marik replied dryly.

Hermione frowned, before looking around a moment. She pulled them through the throng of students jostling them about and into a deserted hallway. She looked about again to make sure they were alone, before she started talking excitedly.

"Snape mentioned it once in Potions," she explained. "It's called the Polyjuice Potion, and it can turn a person into another person."

Bakura frowned. "What good will that do us?" he asked, but Yugi already understood what she was getting at.

"We could turn into Crabbe and Goyle!" he exclaimed. "Malfoy probably tells those two goons just about anything."

"There's only one problem," Hermione continued. "The recipe's in a book called _Moste Potente Potions."_

Ron sighed, crossing his arms. "How much you want to bet that's in the Restricted Section?"

"My whole fortune, only because I know I'd win that bet," Seto replied dryly. "No teacher in their right minds would ever sign a note for us. They'd have to be really thick."

Marik smirked suddenly, his face lighting up with a devilish idea. "I know _just_ the professor!"

-.oOOo.-

Since the incident with the pixies, Lockhart had not brought any more live creatures to his class. Instead, he would read passages from his books, boring most of the students more effectively than even Professor Binns. With the Gryffindor class he would act out some of his more "harrowing" adventures – using Harry, of course, as his secondary actor. Harry only tolerated it because they needed to have Lockhart in a good mood for what they were going to ask him.

After re-enacting Lockhart's defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf, he rejoined Marik, Ron, Hermione, and Yugi in the back of the class. The bell rang soon after, and they waited until the rest of the class was gone before going up to Lockhart.

"Um, Professor," Hermione began, handing him a note with the name of the book they needed. "I wanted to check this book out of the library for a bit of background reading, but it's in the Restricted Section. I'm sure it would help understand in _Gadding with Ghouls_ when you –"

"Ah, _Gadding with Ghouls!"_ Lockhart exclaimed. "One of my favorite works. You liked it?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed eagerly. He smiled roguishly, taking out a peacock feather quill from his desk. Both Marik and Ron made a disgusted face at the sight of it.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" he asked, misinterpreting their expressions. "I usually save it for book signings," he continued, writing a loopy signature on the note. "Well, I see no problem with giving the student of the year a little extra help."

He handed the note back to her, and she folded it up with numb fingers as the boys led her out of the room. They quickly joined up with Seto and Bakura, who had been waiting for them in the library.

"Did you get it?" the taller boy asked.

"Brainless git didn't even look at the book we wanted," Ron said as Hermione showed off the signed note.

"He is _not_ a brainless git!" she exclaimed, glaring daggers at him. Marik just rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, Hermi-chan," he grumbled. "Just because he said you were the student of the year…"

Hermione ignored him, going up to the counter and showing the librarian, Madam Pince, the note. She looked the note over several times, giving them a suspicious look. After a moment, she got the book for them, and soon the seven of them were rushing off to find a place where they could look over it in peace. Eventually, Hermione pulled them into a bathroom marked "out of order".

_"Why_ did you drag us into the _girl's_ bathroom?" Bakura asked, looking around as if he expected something to jump out at them (like a troll, perhaps).

"Oh, don't worry," Hermione said, waving a hand dismissively. "No one ever comes in here because of Moaning Myrtle."

"Moaning who?" Yugi asked, confused. Suddenly, he found himself staring at a pale, miserable face framed by raggedy hair and sad eyes outlined by typical horn rimmed glasses.

"Me!" the ghost snapped. "Moaning Myrtle!"

Yugi managed to let out a squeak before promptly passing out in fright. Moaning Myrtle let out a pitiful howl before looping up and around and diving into a toilet, spraying everyone with water.

"Gross!" Marik exclaimed, taking off his robe and wringing it out as Yugi sat up again. Only it was not Yugi that was in control.

"Do you have any idea how silly it is to have a hikari that's afraid of ghosts?" Yami Yugi asked, rubbing the back of his head painfully.

"Does seem a bit cliché-ish," Harry agreed.

Hermione opened up the book, and the seven of them gathered around over her shoulder to look. It was quickly apparent _why_ the book had been in the Restricted Section, as most of the potions in it seemed to have rather gruesome effects. There was a particularly nasty drawing in it of a man that had been turned inside out, and another of a woman that had arms growing in rather odd places.

"Here it is," Hermione declared suddenly, scanning over the directions for the Polyjuice Potion. "I've never seen a potion this complicated. Most of the materials we're going to have to steal from Snape's private storage."

Everyone looked pointedly at Bakura, who sweatdropped in embarrassment.

"Not only that, but who's going to do it?" Seto asked, looking at a picture of a person in the middle of transforming into another person, and hoping the artist had over exaggerated the look of pain on his face.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea for me, Seto, or Bakura to," Yami Yugi pointed out. "Who knows what kind of an effect it would have on someone who has two souls."

"So that leaves it to us normal people," Marik announced. "The four of us should be able to get plenty information out of Malfoy."

"But we're also going to need a bit of the person we're transforming into," Hermione pointed out. "Crabbe, Goyle, and two other people. It might be better if one of us served as a lookout of sorts. The Potion only lasts an hour."

"I'll be lookout," Ron volunteered. "I don't like the thought of drinking any part of Crabbe or Goyle."

"Guess that leaves me, Marik, and Hermione," Harry said.

"Don't worry," Hermione put in. "It'll take at least a month for the potion to be ready."

"A month!" Seto exclaimed. "Whoever it is could have attacked half the school by that time!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Hermione shot back. Seto just grunted in reply, not having anything else to say. "That's what I thought."

Yami Yugi sighed, running a hand through his blonde bangs. "I don't like this. It's too easy for us to get caught."

"But Hermi-chan's right, Yami Yugi-kun," Marik pointed out. "We only have what Professor Binns told Seto's class to go on. The more we know, the more likely we'll be able to figure out if there really is a Chamber, and what kind of monster is in it."


	6. Tauks of Troubles

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER SIX – TAUKS OF TROUBLES**

Harry stared at Marik as the other boy hungrily stuffed his face that morning. Later on, they would be participating in the first Quidditch match of the season against Slytherin, and he had no idea how the Egyptian could have any type of appetite. Harry's insides practically twisted in on themselves anytime he even looked at food. He supposed different people had different ways of dealing with stress before a game. Yugi even tried to offer him a piece of toast, but he had denied it, afraid that if he ate anything he would be sick to his stomach.

"I don't see why you take this so seriously," Marik said through a mouthful of sausage. "It's just a game. Win or loose, the whole point is to enjoy yourself."

Next to his little brother, Fred fixed him with an amused look. "You haven't been hit by a bludger yet, have you?" he asked.

Marik smirked. "No, that's why you guys are on the team," he replied. "Besides, unless Harry faints from starvation, I'm not the one who'll be flying today."

Harry frowned, but finally started nibbling on the toast that Yugi had offered. Just then, a tri-colored bird swooped into the Great Hall, a small package in its beak. Panseru the owl dropped the package in front of Marik before swinging around and coming to a rest on his master's shoulder. Yugi gave the owl half of his biscuit before it took off again.

"Hey, what'd you get, Marik-kun?" he asked. Marik shrugged, a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth, as he opened up the package. He nearly choked on that bacon when he saw what was inside.

The Millennium Tauk.

Marik swallowed. After his sister, Isis, lost to Seto in the final match of the Battle City Quarter Finals, she also lost the power to control the Tauk and had given it to Yugi. The Item activated briefly while in his care, giving him some hope that he and his companions would survive the tournament. Since then, no one had been able to use it, and he had given it back to Isis for safe keeping after his other half regained his memories. Add that fact to what Yugi had said on the train, and you had a very good reason for Marik reacting to it the way he did.

"Good morning, everyone."

Marik quickly wrapped the Millennium Item up and shoved it into his back pocket as Hermione joined them at the Gryffindor table.

"Where were you?" Ron asked.

"With Yami Bakura," she answered simply. Harry, Yugi, and Ron understood what she meant; the two of them had gone off to Snape's private stores to steal the items they needed for the Polyjuice Potion. Marik obviously missed that, however, as his face practically turned green.

"Doing _what!"_ he demanded. Hermione frowned, before taking a sausage in hand and whacking him over the head with it. The other boys nearly fell off of the bench laughing.

After finishing breakfast, they all got up to head out to the Quidditch field, but Marik hung back a bit, feeling a strange warmth coming from his back pocket. He reached back, pulled the Millennium Tauk out from his pocket, and unwrapped it. The Item had apparently been glowing, the brightness fading gradually. He looked around in surprise; whom had it been reacting to?

"Marik, are you coming?" Harry called.

"Hai!" he shouted, stuffing the Item back in his pocket again.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi fidgeted in his seat, anxiously waiting for Seto and Bakura to join them, and for the game to start. He had to admit, he did not normally like sports, but the wizard's sport of Quidditch was so much fun he could not help himself. Apparently, neither could his other half; Yami Yugi appeared between him and Ron, leaning back on the bench a bit.

"Mind if I stretch my legs, aibou?" he asked.

"Not at all," Yugi replied, grinning as Ron tried to poke his darker self in the shoulder, only to have his finger go right through him. Yami Yugi turned to the younger boy, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Don't do that," he said. "I can actually feel that."

"Sorry."

Just then, Seto and Bakura made their way through the other Gryffindor students, both of them with their other halves in tow. The tomb robber had a sour look on his face, and both Bakura and Yami Seto were trying hard not to laugh at him. Yami Bakura did not say a word; he just plopped down behind Hermione as the others took their seats as well.

"What's _his_ problem?" Yugi asked.

"He's annoyed that he _had_ to steal something," Bakura explained. "He likes to perform his craft spontaneously."

Yami Yugi turned to the tomb robber, brick faced. "Perform your craft?" he asked. "Oh _spare_ me!"

"Shut up, pharaoh," Yami Bakura snapped. He sneered then. "Or should I go back to Egypt and dig up your father again?"

That was the _wrong _thing to say in front of Yami Yugi. The former pharaoh lunged back toward the tomb robber, looking like he was going to strangle the life out of him, never mind that his existence depended on his hikari. Yami Seto managed to let out an "eep" before grabbing the pharaoh by the arms.

"Pharaoh, c'mon!" he exclaimed. "Fight nice! Please!"

For a spirit such as the three of them to appear in the real world, it required a bit of concentration so they would not fall through the floor, what they were sitting on, whatever. Yami Yugi was so focused on getting to the tomb robber and Yami Seto was so concerned with preventing what would happen when he did, that the two of them lost that small bit of concentration. They both fell through the bleachers, regaining their concentration in time to land painfully at the bottom of the stands. Both Yugi and Seto sweatdropped, embarrassed, as Yami Bakura sniggered.

"Thanks, you two," he called down to the pharaoh and the high priest. "I needed a good laugh."

Both of them shot back with a rather foul sounding Egyptian curse, one that made the tomb robber frown.

"Hey, do I insult your mother?"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly. "Yami Yugi! Yami Seto! Get back up here! They're starting!"

Fourteen players flew out onto the field; seven in scarlet and gold, and seven in green and silver robes. Seto put his enchanted binoculars to his eyes almost immediately to get a better look at the players. After a moment, he tore them away, a disbelieving look on his face.

"Is that _Malfoy_ up there!" he exclaimed.

Yami Yugi's head suddenly appeared next to his hikari, having grabbed one of the seats and pulled himself up. Yugi freaked; he _hated_ it when he did that!

"What!" Yami Yugi exclaimed, ignoring his partner's reaction as he pulled himself the rest of the way through the seat and sitting down properly again. "Who in their right mind would put _him_ on a team!"

"Hey!" Yami Seto called, still stuck below. "A little help!"

"Oops…" Yami Yugi muttered, reaching through his seat to grab the high priest and haul him back up. Yami Seto plopped down in a seat next to his hikari, before snatching his binoculars and putting them to his face to see for himself. Ron frowned, confused.

"I don't get it," he whispered to Seto. "How come he could do that, but when I tried to touch Yami Yugi, my finger went right through him?"

Seto just shrugged. "I'm the wrong person to ask," he replied. "I gave up trying to understand it over the summer." He tried to grab his binoculars back then, annoyed. "Do you mind on not hogging those?"

Yami Seto brushed him off, keeping the binoculars to his face. "Hey, hikari, those black brooms we saw at that shop back in Diagon Alley," he began. "What were they called again?"

Seto frowned. "I think Marik-kun said they were the Nimbus Two-Thousand-Ones or something like that," he replied. "Why?"

Yami Seto lowered the binoculars then, a sour look on his face. "Guess what all of Slytherin is riding."

"You're kidding!" Yugi exclaimed, grabbing the binoculars before Seto could get to them. The taller boy muttered some curses under his breath as Yugi focused in on the Slytherin brooms, particularly the one that Malfoy was riding. He frowned, passing the binoculars to his other half, who also focused in on Malfoy.

"That lousy…!" Yami Yugi exclaimed. "He bought his way on to the team!"

Yami Bakura suddenly grabbed the binoculars, leaving the pharaoh blinking in surprise. The tomb robber put them up to his face, scanning the sky. He lowered them shortly after, a slightly worried look on his normally sadistic face.

"Uh-oh," he muttered.

"What is it?" Bakura asked. He had never seen his darker half with that look on his face. It sort of worried him; something really bad had to be happening. Yami Bakura confirmed that too.

"Harry's in trouble again."

-.oOOo.-

Harry was hovering above the field as always, trying to ignore Malfoy, who was ignorantly showing off the speed of his new broom. He was so engrossed in trying to find the Snitch that he did not notice the Bludger coming toward him. It was more like he _sensed_ something was wrong, and upon acting on that sense he was able to just barely dodge the flying black ball. Harry straightened his broom out as it sailed by him, letting out a sigh of relief as he did so.

"All right there, Harry?" George asked, hitting the Bludger off toward one of the Slytherin chasers.

"I'm fine!" Harry shouted back.

He was not going to be fine for long, though, as the Bludger suddenly looped around and headed straight for him once again. That time he nearly fell off his broom trying to avoid it. Fred came up as the ball soared by him, whacking the offending object right toward Malfoy, who was more than ready to dodge it. The pale boy did not have to, however. The Bludger spun around in mid air and headed straight for Harry for a third time.

Harry did the only thing he could think of then. He shot off about the stadium at full speed, the Bludger trailing dangerously close behind. Fred and George followed as quickly as they could, trying to keep the insane ball from killing him.

"Someone's fixed this thing!" Fred exclaimed, smacking it away, only to have it fall in line behind Harry again. The young seeker was not paying attention though. He had caught sight of something near Malfoy, who was too busy watching their efforts to avoid the Bludger to notice it. Something small and gold…

Without warning the Weasley twins, Harry shot off toward the Golden Snitch, making it look like he was purposefully leading the ball toward the snobbish rich boy. Malfoy let out a shout of surprise before dodging out of the way just in time. He caught sight of what Harry had truly been after, however, and a growl escaped from his mouth before he flew after him, quickly pulling up to him with his superior broom. Harry hardly noticed, though; he was too concerned with catching the Snitch and ending the game before he got killed.

The Golden Snitch led them down into what some of the students from muggle parentage had taken to calling "the trench run". It was exactly that, too: a long trench that surrounded the entire field, with various supports that helped hold up the stands crisscrossing it. It was a dangerous area to fly through, not to mention with a rouge Bludger on their tail and pulling off the speeds they were doing. Each time Malfoy would gain a lead on the Snitch, somehow Harry would pull off some odd maneuver or put out just enough speed to pull even with him.

After a moment, Malfoy looked back, trying to see what the Bludger was doing. It was closing in on Harry at a very fast rate. The only problem was, he was so focused on the Snitch that he did not even notice it. Malfoy swore under his breath, hardly believing what he was going to do. He slammed into Harry, pushing him out of the way.

"Move it!" he managed to shout, before hitting the brakes. Harry soared ahead while he fell back… right into the Bludger. The ball smashed into the tail of his new broom, sending him flying off of it like catapult ammo. He landed on the ground above, and the last thing he heard was the sound of something cracking before he promptly passed out.

Down in the trench, Harry gripped the handle of his broom, gritting his teeth. He knew what Malfoy had done for him; he could not _believe_ it, but he was aware of it. Just his luck, now he owed him one. He pushed the thought out of his head for the moment; the Snitch was heading up out of the trench and back to the open field. He followed it, so close he could almost see the intricate carvings that decorated it. Holding onto the broom tightly, he reached out an arm…

WHAM!

The mad Bludger came out of nowhere, smashing into his outstretched arm. There was a horrible snapping sound as his arm bent back at an odd angle. The pain was excruciating, but Harry somehow managed to ignore it, wrapping the now useless arm painfully around the broom before reaching out with the other arm. He made a mad grab for the Snitch, and he felt the ball in his hand just before he slipped off the broom, falling straight for the ground.

Harry tucked in on himself, protecting both his injured arm and the hand that held the Snitch as he landed on the sandy ground near a semi-conscious Malfoy. He recovered his bearings a moment, holding up the Snitch so Madam Hooch could see it and declare the match a win for Gryffindor. The whistle rang throughout the stadium, and Harry turned his attention to the pale boy, shaking his shoulder slightly.

"Hey, you all right?" he asked. Malfoy looked up at him, bleary-eyed, kind of looking like Harry felt at that moment.

"D'ya get it?" he asked, a bit drowsily. Harry showed him the Snitch and he grunted, as if he was not pleased that Gryffindor won, but grateful the insane match was over all the same. He sat up slightly, nursing his own broken arm.

"What a rush," he commented, a bit breathlessly.

"Unh-hunh," Harry agreed as their teams came rushing toward them, the Gryffindor team with the added bonus of his friends. Someone from each team tried to lift their respective seekers, but each of them let out a shout of pain, and the effort was quickly abandoned. There was a clicking sound coming from somewhere, followed by a flash.

"Colin, _don't_ take a picture of _this,"_ Harry called out dryly.

"Move aside, everyone, move aside!" an annoyingly cheery voice rang out over the crowd. Everyone parted, to reveal the last person Harry wanted to see. His face went almost as pale as Malfoy's.

"No, not you!" he exclaimed.

Gilderoy Lockhart laughed. "The boy doesn't know what he's saying," he declared cheekily, taking out his wand. "Now, boys. Stay very still while I mend your bones."

Both Harry and Malfoy winced and turned away as Lockhart started waving his wand about flamboyantly. He uttered some words, and suddenly their arms felt quite strange. They turned back toward their arms at the odd feeling, and Malfoy let out a shout of horror.

_"You bloody moron!"_ he shouted.

Harry could do nothing but stare, and try not to be sick. Sticking out of their robes were what looked like fleshy rubber gloves. Lockhart had not mended their broken bones… he had removed them!

"Ah, yes… Well that can sometimes happen," Lockhart said rather uneasily.

_"Bullshit!" _someone that sounded like Seto shouted from somewhere.

The professor bit his lip. "Eheh… Well, the point is, the bones aren't broken anymore. That's something to keep in mind."

"They're not even there," Malfoy growled.

Lockhart was really nervous now. "Well… heh… Remarkably flexible, isn't it?"

Both Malfoy and Harry looked like they were going to kill him.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi was always the quiet type; the kind that never got really mad at anyone unless he and his friends were threatened. So, needless to say, seeing the small Japanese boy standing there with his hands on his hips and his face scrunched up in a scowl was a bit of a surprise. The focus of this show of unusual emotion was directed toward the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, whom he was trying to give the illusion he was towering over. It was not working though, as he was just too short.

"I'll say it again, Mr. Mutou," Madam Pomfrey said, her voice strained. "Mr. Potter needs to _rest._ And he won't get any rest with his friends around!"

"And I'll say it again too!" Yugi exclaimed, extremely out of character. "You said so yourself: Harry-kun's got thirty-three bones to regrow! I don't know about you, but if I woke up in the middle of the night with a bunch of bones growing in my arm, I'd want a friend nearby to distract me from the pain!"

Madam Pomfrey gave up at that, throwing her hands up in the air and stalking back toward her desk. Yugi plopped into a chair, frustrated, as Harry chuckled a bit. The younger boy was lying out on a bed, what was left of his arm held up in a sling. Malfoy – who had been shouting "I'll kill that pompous idiot!" and "Wait till my father hears of this!" the whole way to the infirmary – was lying in his own bed across the way, strangely quiet and looking like he was lost in thought.

"Ne, Harry-kun?" Yugi began. "You want to have a quick duel?"

Harry laughed. "Is that all you ever think about?"

Yugi smiled, sticking out his tongue slightly as he took his and Harry's decks out from his pocket. He shuffled the two decks as Harry used his good arm to pull a tray between them, positioning it so he could keep his hand cards on his lap and Yugi would not be able to see them. The duel started right away, and was going well enough. Neither of them had gotten an edge on the other, but about halfway through Harry's eyes started to droop. After that, Yugi took his cards away and pushed him back on the bed despite his protests, tucking him in for the rest of the night.

"Hey, Yugi," Harry began. "Just curious. Who is it that always wins those tournaments?"

Yugi smiled. "Panseru and I work together as a team," he explained. "When one doesn't know a way out of a situation, the other takes over to help. Although, he's almost always the one in control during a match; it throws people off."

"Panseru?" he asked. "Is that Yami Yugi's real name?"

Yugi nodded, and Harry smiled tiredly.

"Sounds like Pandora," he said, halfway at sleep's door. "You opened Pandora's box and assembled the 'Hope' within. Very cool."

With that said, Harry was out like a light, leaving Yugi with his face scrunched up in thought. In all that time he had had the Millennium Puzzle and had Yami Yugi within him, he had _never_ even thought of it that way. Maybe if he had, he would have been able to get a better idea of how much trouble he would be in. He sighed, and was about to plop into the bed next to him to get some sleep himself, when another tired voice came from across the way.

"Oy… Mutou."

Yugi looked over to Malfoy in surprise, forgetting that he was stuck there as well. He was also surprised that the pale boy had used his real name, instead of calling him "starfish-head" like he normally did. Maybe it was because of the shock of loosing the bones in his arm, maybe it was because he was tired; either way, Yugi did not expect Malfoy to call him by his name when he woke up the next morning. He went over to the side of his bed.

"What is it, Malfoy?" he asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as the look on the other boy's face.

"That game you play… is it fun?" Malfoy asked.

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Yes, quite fun. You probably wouldn't like it; it's a muggle game."

Malfoy shrugged slightly. "Maybe I would like it."

With that, he too had fallen fast asleep, leaving a very confused Yugi as the only one awake. After a moment of staring at the pale blonde boy, he shook his head before going back over to the bed by Harry.

"Weird," he muttered, before pulling off his boots and collapsing into bed.

-.oOOo.-

Marik sat up in bed that night, all ready knowing that he would not be able to see the inside of his eyelids after everything that had happened. Having nothing else better to do, he reached over to his nightstand, taking out the package that contained the Millennium Tauk from where he had hid it after the Quidditch match. He took the Item out and stared at it, as if it would tell him why his sister had sent it to him.

Coincidentally, he caught sight of a note scrunched up inside the packaging the Item had been in. He took it and smoothed it out, instantly recognizing his sister's neat print.

_Dear Otouto,_

_I talked to Shadi recently, and he informed me  
that his Millennium Items were no longer working  
for him. Needless to say, I was rather surprised,  
especially considering the drastic switch that  
occurred with the Items that the four of you possess._

_I can't help but wonder if the Items are choosing  
new owners for themselves. Marik, I want you to  
find out if this is true. Find out if the Tauk has  
decided on a new master; Shadi said he would see  
if the Scale and the Ankh had chosen new owners  
his own way._

_I'll send another owl if I find anything else out.  
Until then, good luck in Quidditch, and keep your  
studies up._

_Isis_

Marik stared at the note, a queasy feeling creeping up in his stomach. It could not have been a coincidence; Yugi was right when he said the Items were choosing new owners. Now, the only problem was which Millennium Item went to whom? The Tauk had obviously reacted to someone in the school, but who knew where the new owners of the Scale and Ankh were. Also, considering that Shadi was looking for the new owners "his own way", well… Marik did not have anything against the Egyptian, it was just that his track record was less than stellar, so to speak.

Marik let out a frustrated sigh, falling back into bed. So many questions, not enough answers.

-.oOOo.-

Unfortunately, Yugi's sweet dreams of winning Duel Monsters tournaments were interrupted by an angry shout not all that long after he fell asleep. He opened his eyes slightly, looking over to Harry's bed to see that the younger boy had a lanky green elf dressed in an old pillowcase by the throat, and it looked like he was going to strangle the poor creature. Yugi sprang up in bed in the next instant, catching their attention.

"Harry-kun, what are you doing!" he hissed, keeping his voice down so as not to wake Malfoy, or worse, Madam Pomfrey.

Harry thrust out the elf. "Remember I said that a house elf warned me against coming to Hogwarts this year?"

Yugi nodded; he had mentioned it one day back during the summer, when they were at the Weasley house. Harry dropped the elf to the floor.

"Meet Dobby," he introduced, the tone in his voice indicating that meeting the house elf was not a good thing. Dobby the house elf bowed to Yugi rather clumsily.

"Oh, 'tis an honor to be introduced to such an esteemed friend of Harry Potter's," he said.

"Er… you're welcome?" Yugi replied, but Dobby was not paying attention. He had turned back to Harry again, an insistent look on his pitiful face.

"Harry Potter must leave Hogwarts!" he exclaimed, both boys urging him to lower his voice. "Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay at Hogwarts, now that history is about to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is opened once more –"

Dobby cut himself off, a look of abject horror on his face. He went over as if to pound his head on the footboard of Harry's bed, but the young wizard grabbed him by the ears, hauling him up to his eye level.

"So there _is_ a Chamber of Secrets?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice down. "And it's been opened _before!_ When? Tell us Dobby!"

"Dobby is bad… Dobby is very bad…" was the only response they got out of the house elf. Yugi took over then, gripping the elf by the shoulders.

"C'mon, Dobby!" he whispered. "Why's Harry gotta leave Hogwarts?" He gulped. "He's not the one here that's muggle born!"

"Sir, ask no more of Dobby," the elf pleaded. "Dangerous deeds are planned in this place. Harry Potter _must_ go home."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Harry hissed. "Half of my friends are muggle born. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I went off to hide and just left them here!"

That brought tears to Dobby's eyes. "Oh, Harry Potter is braver than they say!" he exclaimed. "Risking himself to save his friends! So noble, so valiant!"

"Will you lower your voice!" Yugi hissed, looking around, almost expecting Madam Pomfrey to appear at any moment.

The nurse did not appear, however, they did catch the sound of hurried footsteps rushing toward the infirmary. Dobby disappeared from Yugi's hands, but neither of them really noticed as they dived for their beds, plopping down in them and pretending to still be asleep. Not a moment too soon, either; Dumbledore came into view, holding one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared shortly after, holding the feet, and with a grunt of effort, the two of them managed to lift the object onto a bed.

"Get Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore ordered, and McGonagall scrambled off to comply, rushing past Yugi and Harry's beds. Neither of them dared to even breath as she returned a moment later with the nurse, afraid of what would happen if they were caught awake.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking down at the statue in dismay.

"Another attack," Dumbledore replied dismally. "We found some grapes around him. He was probably on his way here to visit Mr. Potter."

Both Yugi and Harry paled, almost afraid to see who it was. They both sat up slightly in bed, catching a ray of moonlight that fell directly on the face of what they previously assumed was a statue.

It was Colin Creevey, his eyes wide and a look of horror on his face. His arms were stuck out before him, clutching his camera as if he were trying to take a picture with it. The two of them exchanged looks, hardly believing what they were seeing.

"Maybe he took a picture of his attacker," McGonagall suggested as Dumbledore wrenched the camera from Colin's stony grasp. The elderly headmaster opened up the casing, only to have a gigantic spark burst out from the back. From where they were lying, Harry and Yugi caught the distinct smell of burnt plastic.

"Melted," Dumbledore announced, setting the remains of the camera on the stand next to Colin's bed.

"Albus, what does this all mean?" McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore sighed. "It means, Minerva, that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened once more."

Yugi slapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from gasping aloud. Dobby was right; not only _was_ there a Chamber of Secrets, but also it _had_ been opened previously!

"Who could have done this?" Madam Pomfrey asked, but Dumbledore shook his head.

"The question is not who. The question is _how…"_

Harry and Yugi could only stare at the professors, frozen in shock. Little did they know, that they were not the only ones who had witnessed the disturbing conversation…


	7. Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER SEVEN – LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR**

The first Saturday of December, Professor McGonagall passed around a sign-up sheet for those who would be staying at the school for Christmas. Yugi, Marik, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all signed it before finishing their breakfast and heading to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. A few minutes later, Seto and Bakura joined them, the latter of which was still finishing off a biscuit.

"How's the potion going?" Seto asked Hermione, who had manned the cauldron the concoction was stewing in.

"The potion itself is going well, but…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

Marik frowned. "What's wrong, Hermi-chan?" he asked, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled slightly before answering.

"I don't know if any of you have noticed," she began, "but Malfoy hasn't been hanging out with Crabbe or Goyle since the Quidditch match."

Yugi frowned; that was so very true. Malfoy was usually always found in the company of the thickheaded bodyguards; Crabbe and Goyle did the physical work anytime they would pick on a student. Lately, though, Malfoy was often found wandering around the halls alone. He did not speak to anyone; did not so much as even glare at Ron the one time he accidentally bumped into him.

"That's true," Seto added. "Even in class, he doesn't sit anywhere near them."

"You mean we may be brewing this potion for nothing?" Bakura asked. He paled then. "I _allowed_ Yami Bakura-kun to steal for no reason?"

_Get over it, hikari. _

_Oh, shut up! _

"Perhaps," Hermione answered, unaware of the brief mental exchange. "But, I think we should keep it going, just in case we need it."

Yugi bit his lip; he did not want his friends going off into danger when the outcome would not be useful to finding out who was behind the Chamber of Secrets. After a moment of debating, he took off out of the bathroom, ignoring the others as they shouted for him to come back. He could only think of one thing: find Malfoy.

Maybe luck was on his side, or maybe he had invoked some power of the Millennium Puzzle he was not aware of; either way, it only took Yugi a few moments to find Draco Malfoy. The pale blonde boy was walking down a hallway that led to the library, his nose buried in a book.

"Malfoy!" he shouted, catching his attention. He turned, an eyebrow raised, but his face otherwise emotionless.

"What the devil do you want?" Malfoy asked, his voice a bit of a monotone.

Yugi paused a moment to catch his breath, before he asked, "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"

That got a response out of him. Malfoy's thin lips turned down into a scowl. "Is it because I'm in Slytherin that you feel you can just waltz up to me and demand to know about the Chamber of Secrets, as if I even know?"

Yugi winced as Malfoy spun around. "Iie, iie, it's not that –"

"Look," the pale boy interrupted, looking at him slightly over his shoulder, "all I know is that the last time the Chamber was open was before my father's time, and that while it was open, a mudblood died. Now stop bothering me."

With that, Malfoy stalked down the hall, leaving a confused Yugi in his wake. It took a moment for him to process what he had heard, and then he was off back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to tell the others.

-.oOOo.-

A week later, Bakura was still complaining that he had let his other half steal from Professor Snape for no reason, and everyone else was excited about an announcement of a new Dueling Club that had started. Often dangerous, Wizard's Duels were obviously competitions in magic; a grand test to see who controlled superior power. Seto was all for it, of course – that cocky gleam appeared in his eyes at the mention of it, the same look he always had on his face when he played Duel Monsters. The others wanted to participate for more practical reasons. After all, who knew when they were going to go up against the 'horror within' the Chamber of Secrets, as well as the person who was letting it loose.

At eight 'o clock, the group of seven friends joined others from different houses in the Great Hall. The long tables they normally ate at had been pushed to the side, and only a large stage stretched from one end of the hall to the other.

"I wonder who it is that will be instructing us?" Hermione asked as they pushed their way closer to the stage. "I heard Professor Flitwick was a Dueling Champion when he was younger."

Marik smirked, trying to picture the old man – that was somehow shorter than Yugi – in a magic duel.

"I don't care who it is," he said. "Just as long as it isn't— oh, shimata…"

Professor Snape had walked up onto the stage, a mighty scowl on his face that the seven of them had not seen since they first started school last year. That was not what had drawn the curse out of Marik, however. On the other end of the stage, grinning cheekily as always, was none other than Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he announced. "Dumbledore has given me special permission to start this dueling club, in case you ever have need to defend yourself, like I myself have so many times in the past. For full details, see my published works." He waved a hand flamboyantly in the direction of Professor Snape. "Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape, who was sporting enough to offer to aid me in this endeavor."

Judging from the scowl on Snape's face, his assistance was not voluntary. Seto leaned down, whispering in Yugi's ear in Japanese so Hermione would not pitch a fit.

"If we're lucky," he said, "Snape will disable him so he can't do that thing he calls 'teaching' anymore."

"And if we're really lucky," Yugi returned, also in Japanese, "he'll kill him, and save the whole world a lot of grief."

Snape had apparently heard them, for he tossed them a half attempt at a humored smirk before he resumed glaring at Lockhart. The demonstration duel followed almost immediately, with the two professors bowing to one another. Well, Lockhart did with a great amount of twirling of his hands; Snape just jerked his head irritably. They walked away from one another then, looking like something out of a bad American Western film. Once they were far enough apart, they spun around and faced one another again, brandishing their wands before them like swords.

"On the count of three, we will cast our first spells," Lockhart announced to the crowd of students. "We won't be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Marik commented, eyeing Snape. He could not understand how Lockhart could still be smiling; if Snape were glaring at him like that, he would be running in the opposite direction.

"One… two… three…"

"Expelliarmus!"

A burst of red sparks burst forth from Snape's wand. It hit Lockhart square in the chest, sending him flying into the far wall. He smacked against it, sliding down until his rump hit the ground. Several people started cheering (mostly Slytherins), while Hermione was dancing about, trying to see above the crowd.

"Is he all right?" she asked.

"Who cares?" the boys responded dryly.

Meanwhile, Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet, his wavy hair nearly standing on end. He chuckled, much to Snape's obvious displeasure, as he walked back to his previous position.

"Ah, yes, excellent idea to show them that first, Professor Snape," he said. "That was a Disarming Charm, and as you can see, I've lost my wand. Well, now, why don't we have two students try it out for themselves while I go look for it. Mr. Mutou, Mr. Kaiba, if you please?"

Seto and Yugi exchanged looks before they shrugged and climbed up on the stage (Yugi needing a hand up, of course). They mimicked what Snape and Lockhart had demonstrated, as the latter professor urged them to only use the Disarming Charm. Seto smirked as they both brought their wands at ready.

"Shall we make this more interesting?" he asked in Japanese, making it seem like he was insulting the smaller boy.

"Do _you_ want to get a detention?" Yugi returned in the same language. "Oh, yeah, by the way, Snape knows Japanese."

Seto looked over his shoulder at the professor, who had another one of his smirks on his face. The young CEO rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Yugi.

"Oh well," he replied, in English, then announced, "We're ready!"

"On the count of three then," Snape said for Lockhart, as the other professor was still looking for his wand. "One… two… three."

"Expelliarmus!"

The name of the spells was shouted out at the same time, but because Seto moved his wand faster than Yugi did, the smaller boy was sent flailing backward first. He managed to grab the edge of the stage, preventing himself from hitting the wall like Lockhart had. Seto, heavier than him and not as easy to send flying, landed near the edge of the stage with a thud that nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"Ah, excellent! Very excellent!" Lockhart exclaimed, finally recovering his wand. "Five points apiece to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Now, how about another student example before pairing off everyone? Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley?"

Harry clambered onto the stage, and Ron was about to follow, when Snape stood in front of him, blocking him off as he said to Lockhart, "In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Weasley's wand causes devastation with even the simplest of spells."

Ron backed off, shrugging to Harry sheepishly. The sad part was, Snape was right; his Spell-o-taped wand had not worked properly since it had broken.

"May I suggest a student from my own house?" the Potions Master continued. "Mr. Malfoy, perhaps?"

Draco climbed up onto the stage, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. Harry could not help but agree with that look.

"Remember, _disarm_ only," Lockhart reminded them. "One… two –"

Despite Malfoy's difference in attitude over the past few weeks, Harry had expected him to try and pull something off. Good thing Malfoy never disappointed him; the pale boy's wand had already started moving on "two".

"Tarantallegra!"

Harry was hit full on with the curse, and it took all the self-control he could muster to prevent his legs from breaking out into some kind of dance. Squeezing his knees together, he pointed his wand at Malfoy.

"Rictusempra!"

A jet of silver shot out of his wand, hitting Malfoy in the chest while Lockhart started panicking.

"I said disarm _only!"_ he stressed.

Everyone else ignored him, too caught up in the duel. Malfoy, wheezing from the Tickling Charm Harry had cast on him, held up his wand shakily.

"Serpensortia!"

It was like the end of Malfoy's wand had exploded. A long, black snake shot out of the wand, rearing up and hissing furiously. Some students screamed, and the crowd as a whole backed off. Even Harry took a step back, surprised. Apparently, that spell had been Snape's limit; he stepped forward, pulling out his wand.

"Don't move, you two," he warned.

"Allow me, Professor Snape!" Lockhart declared. A worried look crossed Snape's face before he backed off – along with both Harry and Malfoy.

After much apparently useless twirling, Lockhart pointed his wand at the snake. However, instead of disappearing, the snake flew up in the air and plopped down on the stage again. It reared up once more, still hissing; all that Lockhart's spell had accomplished was to make it angrier than it was before. The snake slithered toward a Hufflepuff boy, Justin Finch-Fletchley, looking like it was going to lash out at the paling boy any minute. Harry did the only thing he could think of: he stalked threateningly toward the snake, drawing its attention to him.

"Get away from him!" he shouted.

To his surprise, the snake became docile, slithering away from Justin and curling up in the center of the stage. Harry sighed in relief, and then smiled as he turned to the Hufflepuff boy. He expected him to maybe be a little confused, but grateful that he had called off the snake. He did not expect him to be standing there, shaking, looking like he was going to pass out.

"What are you playing at!" he demanded, before whirling around and stalking out of the room. Bakura gave Harry a worried look before running after him.

Harry looked around in confusion. All of the students were giving him strange, frightened looks. Malfoy was paler than he normally was, and looked like he was just shy of fainting. Snape just stared at him, an unusual look of utter disbelief on his face, before he made the snake vanish. Suddenly, Ron grabbed the sleeve of his robe and tugged him off the stage.

"C'mon!" he hissed. "Move!"

Ron, Hermione, Marik, Yugi, and Seto pulled him along through the Great Hall. The going was easy, as the students quickly parted to let them through. Harry could only stare at their frightened faces; what had he done to get such a reaction out of them?

The six of them did not stop until they reached the empty Gryffindor common room (they let Seto come in as well, even though he was in Ravenclaw). Ron practically threw the still utterly confused Harry into a seat.

"You're a Parselmouth!" he exclaimed. "How come you never told us!"

"I'm a what?" Harry asked, getting more confused by the minute.

"A Parselmouth," Yugi repeated for Ron, who looked like he was going to have a fit. "Someone who can talk to snakes."

"Oh," Harry replied. "Oh, yeah, I know. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin once… Long story," he added, noticing their looks of horror. "It was before I found out I was a wizard. The snake told me it had never seen Brazil."

"The _snake_ told you?" Seto asked, his face paling.

"So what?" Harry demanded, starting to get angry. "If I hadn't told that snake to get away from Justin –"

"Oh, is that what you said to it?" Ron asked, sarcastically.

Harry stood up from his seat, very annoyed now. "You were there! You heard me!"

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue, Harry-kun," Marik replied. "You know, snake language."

Harry paled at that, sitting back down again. "I spoke a different language?" he asked, shocked. "Wait a minute! How do you guys know about this!"

The three foreign boys pointed to Hermione. She screwed up her courage, looking like she was going to regret what she was going to tell him.

"Harry, there's a reason why Slytherin House's animal is a snake," she began. "Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth."

Harry's mouth practically hit the floor at that.

"Exactly," Ron added. "Now everyone's going to think you're his great-great-great-great grandson or something."

Harry shook his head emphatically. "There's no way," he declared. "I'm in Gryffindor, remember?"

"That doesn't matter, Harry-kun," Marik pointed out. "Salazar Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago. For all we know… you could be."

Harry leaned back in his seat, a look of absolute dread on his face. One thing he had never told any of his friends, was that when he had put on the Sorting Hat what seemed like ages ago, the Hat was originally going to put him in Slytherin. He had urged it not to, and so it put him in Gryffindor instead. Now, with everything happening, he could not help but wonder if the Hat was right the first time…

-.oOOo.-

As soon as he left the Great Hall, Draco Malfoy broke out into a nervous run, the last bits of the Tickling Charm Harry had cast on him quickly wearing off. He did not stop his mad dash until he was in the boy's bathroom, and safely locked behind one of the stales. Gasping for air, he doubled over, shaking so bad he was afraid he was going to knock down the wooden stales.

Harry had _talked _to that damn snake, and it actually listened to him! That could only mean one thing; that he was a Parselmouth, a trait passed down to the heirs of Slytherin. There was only one problem: Draco _understood_ what he had said! He knew that Harry had told the snake to back off.

He was a Parselmouth too.

Draco slid down the wall, curling up with his knees against his chest. What was he going to do…?

-.oOOo.-

Harry had planned on explaining to Justin what he had really been trying to do at the dueling club during Herbology the next morning, but a sudden, severe snowstorm had canceled the last lesson of the term. So, instead of freezing in the greenhouses, he was freezing in the library with his friends, trying to use the free time to get some much needed studying. He just could not think straight, however; thoughts of him possibly being Slytherin's heir were running rampant in his mind.

"Harry-kun," Yugi said suddenly, sensing that something was bothering his friend, "why don't we go look for Justin?"

"He usually hangs out in the Great Hall when he has breaks," Bakura offered as Harry and Yugi got up from their seats.

The two of them set off toward the Great Hall, ignoring the stares that were directed toward Harry. The younger boy scoffed at everyone's over-reactions, rolling his eyes. They were about to descend a staircase, when they almost bumped into something very tall and very hairy.

"Hello, Hagrid," Harry greeted.

A snow-covered balaclava hid most of Hagrid's face, but it could not have been anyone else. There was no other person in the school who could take up half the hallway like the giant of a man did.

"All righ' there, Harry, Yugi?" he asked, pulling up the balaclava with his free hand so he could speak. His other hand had a dead rooster hanging from it. "Why aren't yeh in class?"

"Cancelled," Yugi explained. "What are you doing with _that?"_

He pointed to the dead rooster. Hagrid held it up a bit.

"Second one killed this term," he explained. "Prob'ly foxes or a Blood-Suckin' Bugbear. I need Dumbledore's permission ter put a charm around the hen coop."

Harry checked his watch and frowned. "Sorry, Hagrid, we've got to go," he said. "It's Transfiguration next and we still need to get our books."

Hagrid peered down at him. "Are yeh sure yeh're all right?" he asked. "Yeh look all hot an' bothered…"

Harry smiled slightly, grateful for his concern. "I'm okay," he said. "Just a lot of things going on lately."

The two of them said good-bye to Hagrid before heading up to their common room. Yugi looked up to Harry, who still had a bit of a sour look on his face. He raced up in front of him and spun around, making him stop in mid-step.

"Harry-kun, let me tell you something," he began, "when I had to tell you guys about Yami Yugi-kun, I was worried – _very _worried."

"About what?" Harry asked, wondering where this came from all of a sudden.

"That you and Ron and Hermione would not be my friends anymore," he replied. He held up a hand. "I don't mean to make a 'power of friendship' speech – my friend Anzu in Japan has a habit of making too many of those – but I will say this much. The seven of us are _true_ friends, and no matter what happens to us, or whoever our ancestors might be, we'll always have that bond."

Harry blinked, caught off guard. After a moment, he smiled his first true smile in a long time. "Thanks, Yugi," he said. "I guess I really needed to hear that."

They resumed the walk to the common room then, taking a short cut down a dark corridor. The torches must have been blown out by a cold draft from somewhere, though the hallway was a bit warm. Yugi pulled out his golden wand.

"Lumos!"

The tip of the wand lit up with a light powerful enough to illuminate a good portion of the hallway. The sight that lay out before them, however, nearly made the older boy drop the wand in shock. Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, perfectly still, a look of shock frozen on his face. Hovering slightly above him was the Gryffindor House ghost, Nearly Headless Nick. Instead of being pale and silvery like all the other ghosts were, however, he was gray and smoky, floating motionlessly parallel to the ground.

Harry fell to his knees in shock, his breathing coming out in shallow gasps. Yugi himself looked like he was going to faint.

Just then, to add insult to injury, the school's resident poltergeist, Peeves, floated out of an empty classroom. He was on his back, looking like he was doing the backstroke in midair. The ghost flipped around when he saw them, a sneer on his face.

"Why, it's potty wee Potter!" he cackled, bouncing around him. "What's Potter up to this time, eh? Why's Potter lurking –"

Peeve cut himself off in mid bounce, a look of abject horror on his normally wicked little face. His beady little eyes were focused on Nearly Headless Nick.

_"ATTACK!"_ he screamed at the top of his lungs. _"ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE!"_


	8. Holiday Hijinks

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

Newspaper article and book conversation with Tom Riddle excerpted.

**CHAPTER EIGHT – HOLIDAY HIJINKS**

The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick sent a shockwave through the school. Most students who had signed up to stay at the school during Christmas quickly took their names off the list, afraid of staying at the school with whom the students had labeled as the prime suspect: Harry Potter. Thankfully for Harry, the teachers knew better, especially Dumbledore, who had seen the young wizard after the attack and assured him that he was not truly a suspect.

That break, the lavish Slytherin common room was only occupied by one person: Draco Malfoy. He had opted not to go home that break, and had even went so far as to force Crabbe and Goyle to go home on their own, much to other people's surprise. The pale boy was afraid that if he had gone home, his father would find out that he was a Parselmouth, and he knew that would not end well.

It was no secret that his father had been a Death Eater – a loyal follower of Lord Voldemort when he was at the height of his power. If his father found out that he had a trait that only Voldemort had ever displayed in recent history, he knew that he would be forced to go through the ceremony that all Death Eaters went through, even though the dark lord's whereabouts were as of yet unknown. Before, he would have been elated to have such an honor so early in his life, but now…

Malfoy gripped the sides of his head, shaking it furiously. He needed to get out of the stuffy common room, and he did so, wandering the halls of the school until he found himself at the large double doors of the front entrance to the school. He pushed them open and went out into the cold winter daylight. Freshly fallen snow crunched under his feet as he made his way to the nearly frozen shore where he had arrived and departed from the school for the first time last year.

He sat down in the snow and sand mix, staring out vacantly at the semi-frozen water before him. His thoughts drifted back to that time when he was recovering in the hospital wing from Professor Lockhart's blundered spell, and he was awoken by barely contained shouts. He opened his eyes to find a shocking surprise; Dobby, the Malfoy family house elf, had come to convince Harry to leave Hogwarts and avoid all the strange happenings at the school.

By all means, the first thing he should have done the next morning was send an owl to his father. What Harry had told the elf, however, made him rethink that.

_"I'm not going anywhere! Half of my friends are muggle born. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I went off to hide and just left them here!" _

Draco curled himself up, resting his chin on his knees. The kind of loyalty that Harry had display there was something he thought he had. Crabbe and Goyle were always around to protect him, to do whatever he wanted. It had taken a bit of thinking, but he realized that they were not loyal to him. They only protected him because his father had told them to, just like their parents had protected his father when he went to Hogwarts.

He blew out a frustrated sigh. How the heck was he supposed to balance his feelings, now that they had been sent totally askew?

Draco did not know why, but something made him look up to the pale blue sky above. Something strange was floating up there. At first, he thought it was just a cloud, but then he realized it was something else as it gently drifted toward him. He held out a hand, and a feather, the likes of which he had never seen, came to a soft rest in it. It was not an owl's feather that was for sure. Owl feathers were large and rounded off at the end, but this was small, about the length of his hand, and came up to a sharp point. It's coloring was odd as well; pure white, with a small hint of gold highlighting it.

Draco looked up to the sky again. There were no birds around that he could see, so where had the strange feather come from? Just then, a shiver racked through his body, and he realized exactly how cold it was out there. He pocketed the feather and dashed back to the doors of the school.

-.oOOo.-

Like last year, Dumbledore gave Seto and Bakura special permission to sleep in the Gryffindor tower with their friends because their own houses had all left. That left the two of them, Yugi, Harry, Hermione, Marik, and all five Weasleys with absolute dominance over the common room. Ginny, who had mostly avoided everyone throughout the term, seemed to be glad not to have so many people around. Percy was busy trying to keep the peace between his brothers, when he was not locked up in the prefect room, that is. They did not have to see Lockhart as often, so the air between Marik and Hermione was more or less subdued. Also, duels, both with magic and cards, took up most of their time.

At one point Seto declared that he had finally finished the magic Duel Monsters dueling board he had been working on almost nonstop since last year. Him and Yugi were in the middle of a heated match, when the smaller boy used his Magical Silk Hats trap card only to have it backfire, blowing up in his face and nearly destroying the card. Yugi went to clean the soot off of his face while Seto looked like he was going to launch the device out the window.

_Don't worry, hikari,_ Yami Seto assured him. _You'll get it one of these days._

Christmas morning dawned bright and cold, but no one really noticed. They had all gotten up early to get a head start at unwrapping their gifts.

All the duelists in the room got the latest model of the Duel Disk from Seto. Though it did not look much different from the old Duel Disk , it did have new features added, like the option to choose which rules to follow (Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, or Classic) as well as better compatibility with cards from other countries. Hermione had gotten everyone large boxes of Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans like last year. Also like last year, she had apparently gotten Marik something special, for he blushed when he opened his present and quickly hid it away from prying eyes. Yugi got everyone something different again, ranging from an action figure for Bakura to a new quill for Harry (who had been in desperate need of one). Lastly, as usual, everyone got a brand new Weasley sweater from Mrs. Weasley.

"Any idea what the professors are planning for the Christmas party this year?" Harry asked, melting the treacle fudge he had gotten from Hagrid over the fire before even trying to eat it.

"No idea," Fred said, popping an Every Flavor Bean in his mouth, which quickly got spit out again. "Yuck! Cauliflower! Anyway, they usually do something different every year, and they've never disappointed us."

Marik elbowed Yugi to get his attention, before whispering in a low voice, "I'm just glad you were crazy enough to ask Malfoy about the Chamber. Judging from how the potion was going, we would have had to use it around this time."

-.oOOo.-

Fred had definitely been right about one thing: when it came to a Christmas party, the Hogwarts professors never managed to disappoint. The Great Hall had been decorated with at least a dozen frost covered Christmas trees, each one twinkling with a magical light. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossed high above them, and enchanted snow, warm and dry to the touch, fell from the ceiling. Then of course, there was the wonderful food: roast turkeys, honeyed ham, even some traditional Japanese dishes.

Yugi was in the middle of piling food on his plate when he caught a sad sight out of the corner of his eye. It was Malfoy, sitting alone at the Slytherin table, picking at the food on his plate, apparently lost in thought. Yugi bit his lip, debating, before he took his plate in hand and – much to everyone's surprise – went over and set the plate down across from Malfoy. He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a small, wrapped box. He held it out to the younger boy.

"Here," he said. Malfoy stared at the present, thoroughly perplexed, as Yugi continued, "I got this for you, in the event that you'd willingly accept a muggle present from a mudblood."

Malfoy blinked several times, caught off guard. He had never really gotten presents from anyone other than his parents, not to mention something from someone on the complete opposite side of the tracks he stood on.

"Muggle born," he corrected after a long pause, taking the present from Yugi. "Mudblood is just really rude."

Yugi smiled as Draco opened up the present, revealing the Duel Monsters starter deck and two booster packs he had gotten for him. He sat down as the others started to slowly drift over to join them at the Slytherin table.

-.oOOo.-

When the rest of the school returned from Christmas break, they were in for a shock. Draco Malfoy, the one person who always seemed to embody the very heart of Slytherin, was not only hanging out with Harry Potter and his friends, but he was actually being _nice._ Most people avoided him, skirting away from him in the hallways as if he had some kind of infectious disease. The other students in his house did not even look at him half the time, thinking of him as a traitor.

Draco, for the most part, took everything in stride. His heart had felt as light as the feather he had caught that time before Christmas, a feeling he particularly enjoyed. He ignored what the other students thought of him, as well as the almost constant stream of letters from his father, demanding what was wrong with him.

"If I didn't like my head where it was," he said to Harry the one day during breakfast, having slipped over to the Gryffindor table, "I would write him back and tell him to mind his own business."

Harry started chuckling as the mail arrived. A delivery owl from the _Daily Prophet _swooped in and dropped a paper in front of Ron, stretching out a claw for payment. He paid the bird five Knuts, and it took off as Draco's large eagle owl flew down, coming to a rest on its master's shoulder. He took the envelope from the bird's beak, and his eyes grew wide at the sight of it.

A Howler.

"Quick!" he exclaimed, giving it back to the eagle owl. "Take it to the forbidden forest or drop in the lake. Just get rid of it!"

Sensing the urgency in its master's voice, the owl grabbed the envelope and took off once again. Draco breathed a sigh of relief as some of the surrounding Gryffindors started chuckling.

"That was too close," he muttered, as Ron suddenly started choking on his drink. Yugi quickly pounded on his back, helping him regain his breath.

"What's wrong, Ron-kun?" Marik asked. Ron slapped the _Daily Prophet _onto the table, pointing out an article in the center of the page.

**INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC **

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle  
Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons  
for bewitching a Muggle car.

Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts  
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the  
enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called  
today for Mr. Weasley's resignation.

"Weasley has brought the Ministry into  
disrepute," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. "He is  
clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous  
Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped  
immediately,"

Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment,  
although his wife told reporters to clear off or  
she'd set the family ghoul on them.

Marik pounded his fists on the table, snarling, "Kisama!" He turned to Draco. "Sorry, but your father's gone too far this time."

Draco crossed his arms, his face scrunched up in thought. Suddenly, he ducked below the table, grabbing his bag and tearing out a piece of parchment and his quill. He wrote a quick note down before handing it to Ron.

"Remember," he said, half a smirk on his face, "I never said a word."

Ron read over the note, his eyes widening with each word. He jumped out of his seat, briefly telling Yugi he was going to borrow his owl, before he raced out of the Great Hall like a shot. Draco turned to the others, shrugged, and grabbed a piece of bacon.

-.oOOo.-

Harry, Ron, Yugi, Marik, and Draco were heading toward the dungeons for double Potions, when a shout suddenly came from the staircase above them. The five of them jumped as a flood of water came pouring down on them. Filch came running down the steps soon after, his pants soaked and shaking his fist angrily.

"Damned ghost!" he shouted. "This is the last straw! I'm going straight to Dumbledore!"

He stalked past them, ignoring them entirely. The five of them exchanged glances, before running up the stairs, to find themselves standing just outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, near where Mrs. Norris had been attacked what seemed like ages ago. They looked around a moment, making sure no one would spot them, before heading into the bathroom. The room was nearly drowned in water, and a sobbing sound was coming from one of the toilets.

"What's up, Myrtle?" Harry called.

"Who's there?" Myrtle gurgled from the toilet. "Come to throw something at me again?"

"Why would we throw something at you?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Myrtle said, emerging from her toilet, splashing more water on the already sopping wet floor. "I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."

"But it's not like it would hurt you," Draco pointed out. "I mean, you're already dead."

That was the wrong thing to say. Myrtle flew up to him, a snarl on her pale face. "Oh, sure!" she shrieked. "Let's throw stuff at Myrtle because she can't _feel_ it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach!" She punched him in the stomach, the burst of cold that went through him making him jump. "Fifty points if you can get it through her head!"

She punched Draco through the head, sending a shiver through him as she soared up into the air before diving into her toilet once more. The pale boy turned to Harry, a look of utter confusion on his face.

"How do you people put up with this?" he asked, as Yugi went over to a stall on the far side. He picked up a black book, its pages soaked from the outpouring from the toilet. He ran his hands over the damp cover, feeling out a year that dated the book back fifty years, before opening up the book and finding the name "T.M. Riddle" written in smudged ink on the first page. The other boys crowded around him as he flipped through the book, only to find it was blank.

"Weird," Marik said. "Why would someone want to flush away a blank book?"

Yugi flipped the book over, revealing the place of publication. Harry frowned. "Vauxhall Road?" he asked. "He must have been muggle born."

"Well, I don't think we'll need it," Draco declared, before dropping his voice. "Fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose."

Yugi rolled his eyes before stuffing the book into his robe.

-.oOOo.-

The snow finally stopped some time in the middle of February, and the sun poked out of the clouds for the first time since November. Even better than that, was that there had not been any attacks since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and that had everyone in high spirits. Lockhart apparently had ideas to increase moral, though, which was painfully obvious when Yugi and Marik entered the Great Hall on the morning of February fourteenth.

They thought they were seeing things. Gigantic pink flowers covered the walls, and worse yet, heart shaped confetti was falling from the clear blue ceiling. The two of them joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. The boys were busily trying to brush the confetti from their bacon while trying not to be sick at the sight of it all. Marik and Yugi sat down just as Seto and Bakura came into the hall. They looked around in horror before going over to their table.

"What the heck is going _on_ here!" Seto exclaimed.

Harry and Ron pointed to the professor's table, too disgusted to speak. At the table, Lockhart was standing, showing off his robes the same shade of pink as the flowers and smiling jovially as always. The professors around him looked like they were going to be sick. A muscle was twitching in McGonagall's cheek, and Snape looked like he was just shy of killing someone.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" he exclaimed. "And may I thank the forty-six people who sent me Valentine's Day cards so far. I have taken the liberty of arranging a little surprise for you all."

He clapped his hands together, and a group of about a dozen dwarfs marched into the Great Hall and lined up in front of the professor's table. They were not just any dwarfs, however; Lockhart had them wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"Meet my lovely card carrying cupids!" he exclaimed. "They will be roving the school today, delivering everyone's Valentines!"

Bakura just stared, his lip twitching. "I knew he was gay…" he muttered.

Marik, in the meantime, had focused Hermione with an unreadable look. "Please tell me you weren't one of the forty-six."

Hermione suddenly found her food interesting, and Marik's whole face turned green in response. The other boys sweatdropped at his reaction. Harry shook his head sadly.

"Hey, has anyone seen Draco?" he asked, just as Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom rushed into the Great Hall. They headed toward the seven of them right away, concern clearly displayed on their faces.

"You guys might want to come to the infirmary," Seamus said, the urgency obvious in his voice.

"What happened?" Yugi asked.

"Has there been another attack?" Seto demanded.

Neville shook his head. "Well, no," he answered. "Not that kind of attack anyway."

The seven of them exchanged worried looks, before jumping out of their seats and making their way as quickly as they could to the hospital wing. They rushed in, going past the curtained off beds that contained the petrified bodies of Colin and Justin, and heading to the very back. There, Madam Pomfrey was bent over a bed, wiping a cloth over the face of the person lying there before getting up.

"Five minutes only," she warned them as she left. "He's in bad shape."

The nurse was not kidding either. Draco looked like he had tried to arm wrestle Fluffy, Hagrid's gigantic three-headed dog. Any part of his body that was not covered with the hospital pajamas he was wearing was sporting nasty bruises. One of the sleeves of the pajamas had been carefully rolled up, revealing a thick bandage on that arm. The other arm was in a sling, waiting for the potion that Madam Pomfrey used to fix broken bones to take effect. A gigantic bruise surrounded one eye, while the other was swollen shut. He also had a split lip that had already scabbed over, but despite the obvious pain he was in, he smiled as the group of seven approached.

"I guess it was bound to happen eventually," he said weakly. "I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner."

"What happened?" Ron asked cautiously. Draco only chuckled slightly.

"What's it look like?" he replied. "Crabbe and Goyle beat the shit out of me. Lucky Longbottom tripped over me on his way to the Great Hall; guess his clumsiness is good for something."

His gaze drifted over each of them before he continued, "Have any of you ever felt lost before? You know, mentally lost? It's not a pleasant feeling. I was supposed to be a pure and true Slytherin; a rich snobby brat that was unnervingly proud of his 'pure blood' heritage. As soon as I graduated, I was to take the tests to see if I was fit to become a Death Eater, like my father – yes, Ron, they still do that.

"But then, I start hearing voices in the walls, Harry and I stumble on that damned cat, I bust my arm because of a fixed Bludger… oh, the best one was waking up that night and seeing Harry strangling my family's house elf." He turned his gaze back to Harry. "I blame you for this, but I don't know whether to thank you or kick you in your bloody ass."

Harry blinked, surprised in the revelation that Dobby was the Malfoy's house elf, but in a way, he had almost expected it. He smiled then, a bit of a lopsided grin.

"What is it that you told me, Yugi?" he asked, looking down to the shorter boy. "'We're true friends, and no matter what, we'll always have that bond'?" He looked back over to Draco. "I think it's safe to say that you've been included in that statement."

Draco closed his good eye, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Friends, hunh? That sounds good."

-.oOOo.-

Later that night found Yugi in the library, trying to get in some last minute studying for a test he had the next day, but he just could not concentrate. His mind kept drifting from Draco to the book he had found in Myrtle's bathroom. He sighed, and started to gather up his books so he could head back to the common room, when he caught the sound of barely controlled giggling. Curious, he looked around, spotting a table full of girls some distance away.

Two of them had Gryffindor crests on their robes, one with green hair and the other with auburn. There was a tall girl with raspberry red hair falling over the crests of Slytherin on her robe. The last one had white hair highlighted with blue, the Ravenclaw crest clearly displayed on her robe. Yugi settled back down into his seat, straining to hear what they were saying.

"So, Slink, which do you like?" the girl with the white hair asked.

The girl with green hair scrunched her face up in thought. "Marik."

Yugi blinked in surprise as the other Gryffindor giggled. "Oh, c'mon, sis!" she exclaimed. "He is _so_ bought and paid for!"

"Well, Griff, which one do you like?" Slink asked, leaning toward her sister. The other Gryffindor got a thoughtful look on her face.

"The white haired one," she answered. "You know, that Hufflepuff kid. I think his name's Ryou or something. He's _so_ cute!"

"How can you say that with a straight face?" the Slytherin girl asked. "He's possessed by a tomb robber!"

"But that's what makes him so adorable," Griff protested. "I mean, he's so sweet and innocent normally, and then that spirit takes over and kicks butt!"

Yugi covered his face with a hand. He could not believe he was hearing this.

"So, what about you, Shini?" Griff continued, looking toward the Slytherin girl.

_"I_ can answer that one," the Ravenclaw girl declared. "She's had a crush on that Seto kid since he came to this school."

"It's true," Shini said, leaning back in her chair, resting her feet on the table. "I've seen a picture of him in that muggle magazine, Duelist Monthly or whatever it is. He's a major hotty in that trench coat of his."

The white/blue haired girl shook her head sadly. "Shini, he's not your type," she protested. "Any time I see him in the common room, he's got his nose buried in a book, and he's almost always in here studying his brains out. When was the last time _you_ studied?"

Shini raised an eyebrow slyly. "So, which one do you like, Skyla?"

Skyla suddenly sat up straight, blushing furiously. "Me! I… uh… er… um…" she stuttered. She sighed then, lowering her head. "The little one."

"Yugi Mutou!" the Gryffindor girls exclaimed. Yugi almost fell off his chair in surprise.

Skyla found her hands very interesting as she explained, "Well, yeah. I mean, I know he's like half my height, but he's so cute and adorable. Besides, his spirit is that of a pharaoh. You can't tell me that's not cool."

As she was saying that, Griff looked over her sister's head, spotting him listening in on their conversation. She bit her lip as Skyla finished, a nervous look on her face.

"Hey, Yugi's the one with the big hair that's three different colors, right?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of him.

"Yeah, why?" Skyla asked.

Griff pointed to him, and the other girls turned to look. Skyla blushed bright red, stuttering slightly, before grabbing her books and bolting out of the library. The Gryffindor sisters giggled, waving to him before following her out. Shini followed soon after, winking in his direction.

"Hey, tell that Seto kid I think he's hot, okay?" she asked.

"C'mon, Shini!" Slink shouted, reaching over, grabbing the Slytherin, and pulling her out the door.

Yugi stared at where the girls had been, before shaking his head sadly. Girls these days! He sighed, taking out T.M. Riddle's old diary. Hey, if Riddle had not used it, that did not prevent him from writing in it. Besides, something that bizarre just had to be written down. He dipped his quill into his ink, but he had unfortunately dipped it in too much, for a drop fell off the tip and splashed on the page. Muttering under his breath, he looked down, reaching into his robes for his wand. He was in for a shock when he looked back up, however.

The ink stain was _gone._

Yugi blinked, flipping some of the pages, trying to find any trace of the splash of ink. He returned it to the first page and, frowning slightly, let another drop of ink fall onto the page. After a moment, the ink was sucked into the page, and he yelped reflexively. Feeling reckless, he wrote quickly on the page:

_My name is Yugi Mutou._

There was a pause, and the words also sunk into the page. Then, to Yugi's surprise, he got a response!

_Hello, Yugi Mutou. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come about my diary?_

Those words also disappeared back into the page. Yugi hesitated a moment, before writing his answer, silently wishing his English writing was not so horrible.

_Someone tried to flush it down a toilet._

Yugi sat back and waited for Riddle's answer.

_Good thing I decided to keep my memories in something more lasting than ink. Though, I'd imagine some people would want to prevent my past from being revealed._

Yugi frowned at that, hoping he was not digging himself his own grave as he asked:

_What do you mean?_

_This diary chronicles events that are quite unspeakable – events that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

Yugi paused a moment, trying to remember something. Draco said that the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, right?

_Are you talking about the Chamber of Secrets?_

Tom's response came quickly, as if he were excited about being able to talk about it with someone.

_Yes! The Chamber of Secrets was opened when I went to school. The professors told us it was just a myth, but they lied. In my fifth year, the monster was released and attacked several students, killing one. I caught the person who opened the Chamber and he was expelled. However, the headmaster at the time, Professor Dippet, was ashamed that such a thing had happened, and forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given that the girl had died in a freak accident, and they gave me a medal just to shut me up. I knew it was going to happen again, though. After all, the person who let it loose had not been imprisoned._

Yugi bit his lip, worried about the implication. He wrote his answer back quickly.

_You're right, it is happening again, right now. There've been two people, a cat, and a ghost that's been petrified, and no one's been able to figure out who is doing it. Who was it the last time?_

_I can show you if you'd like…_

Yugi hesitated, worried. It was bad enough that he was _writing_ to a book, but how was he supposed to be able to "see" whatever it was that Riddle wanted to show him? He glanced nervously around the library, making sure there was not anyone around, before he wrote down his answer.

_OK_

The pages suddenly started flipping by on their own, coming to a rest on a page marked "June Thirteenth". Yugi lifted the book, still trying to figure out how he was supposed to see Riddle's memory, when the binding started to glow. Yugi, too scared to even yelp, could only stare in horror as the glow from the book expanded, seemingly reaching out and grabbing him with luminous hands.

When the glow finally faded a moment later, the only sign that Yugi had even been there was Riddle's diary resting innocently on the table, with the Millennium Puzzle lying on its side next to it…


	9. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

Many conversations in the "Diary World" were excerpted for the sake of keeping it true to the original back storyline.

**CHAPTER NINE – DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE**

Yugi was deposited unceremoniously onto the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Pushing himself up with one arm, he looked around as best he could while trying to regain his breath. He had arrived in an office that was reminiscent of Dumbledore's, but it was… different. There was no cluttering on the desk, no phoenix on his perch, and no Sorting Hat up on the top of the bookshelf. Though, if the paintings behind him, most of them empty, were any indication, it was the same office.

Only when Yugi started to get to his feet did he realize that his neck felt lighter than normal. Looking down confirmed it: the Millennium Puzzle was missing! He darted about frantically, trying to see if it had landed somewhere else, but with no luck. The Puzzle just simply was not there.

"Yami Yugi-kun's gonna _kill_ me…" he muttered under his breath.

It was then that he became aware of another person in the room, sitting behind the tidy desk. The man was frail and balding, and had a wizened look about him. Though, it was not the same, gentle wisdom that Dumbledore always seemed to radiate; it was more like wisdom born through hard fought experience. He was staring down at a piece of paper in his hand, and had not reacted to Yugi's presence at all.

"Um… excuse me, sir?" he hazard, leaning toward the old man. There was no response, and Yugi put a hand on his hip, reaching out to rest his other hand on the desk.

_Trying_ to, at least. His hand went right through the desk, making him loose his balance and topple through the desk to land on the floor once more. Yugi rolled past the desk until he could safely sit up without his head (or hair) poking through anything or anybody. Something like this only happened once before, when him, Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda, and Bobasa (one of Shadi's assistants) had traveled to the past, to Ancient Egypt. What he was viewing right now were shadows of the past, and the events playing before his eyes he could not change (unless, he thought bitterly, he was _supposed_ to change them).

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door (since when was there a door? Yugi wondered), and the elderly wizard bade the person enter. A tall boy of about sixteen entered, pulling off his wizard's cap to reveal an immaculate head of black hair. A prefect's badge was shining on his robes, just above the green and silver Slytherin crest.

"Ah, Riddle," the wizard said.

"You wanted to see me, Professor Dippet?" Tom Riddle asked. He seemed nervous; he kept twisting his wizard's cap.

"Please, sit down," Headmaster Dippet requested, waving to one of the armchairs on the other side of the desk. "I was just reading over your letter."

"Oh?" Riddle asked, sitting down.

"My dear boy," the headmaster began kindly, "there's just no way you can stay here over the holidays. Don't you want to go home for the summer?"

"No, sir," Riddle replied, shaking his head emphatically. "I don't consider that place 'home'."

"You live in a muggle orphanage, correct?" Dippet asked. Riddle blushed slightly before nodding. "Are you muggle born?"

"Half blood, sir," he corrected. "Muggle father, witch mother."

"And are they…?"

"My mother died soon after I was born, sir," he answered. "She only lived long enough to name me. Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather."

Yugi could just picture his other half's reaction to all of this: "Great, we know what the 'M' stands for. Can we get to the point, please?"

The headmaster clicked his tongue sympathetically. "I understand, Tom," he said, "and under normal circumstances, I might have made an exception. Recent events being as they are, however…"

"You mean the attacks, sir?" Tom asked. Yugi jumped at that; finally, they were getting somewhere!

"Yes, Tom," Dippet replied sadly. "It would be foolish of me to allow anyone to stay here over the holidays, especially in light of the recent tragedy. That poor, little girl… As it is, the Ministry of Magic is calling for this school to be closed."

Riddle bit his lip. "Sir, what if the person was caught? What then?"

"What do you mean?" the headmaster asked, a hopeful look appearing on his face. "Do you know something, Riddle?"

"No," Tom replied quickly, but even Yugi could tell he was lying. Dippet did not seem to notice, however, as he sighed dejectedly and leaned back in his seat.

"You may go, Tom…"

Tom Riddle quickly got out of his seat and left, with Yugi following close behind, going through the door when the other boy closed it in his face. They descended the moving staircase, going in and out of various passages until they reached the front foyer. Riddle was about to swing around and head for the dungeons, when he caught sight of a professor up at the top of the stairs. The man had sweeping auburn hair, and a beard that was long enough for him to tuck into his belt.

Professor Dumbledore.

"What are you doing wandering about at this time of night, Tom?"

"I had to see the headmaster, Professor," Riddle answered.

"Well, better hurry off to bed, then," Dumbledore urged. "Best not to wander around the halls these days."

He bade the boy good night before disappearing up another flight of stairs. Tom took off as soon as he was out of sight, bolting down to the dungeons with Yugi following in hot pursuit. They came up to a nondescript door, and Riddle paused before it, pulling his wand out of his robes before kicking open the door, revealing a large boy bending over a trunk, peeking inside. The boy jumped when Riddle stormed in, slamming the truck close.

"Evening, Rubeus," Riddle snapped.

"What yer doin' down here, Tom?" the boy demanded.

"I'm going to have to turn you in, Rubeus," Riddle said darkly. "They're talking about closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop."

"What d'yeh…?"

"You know what I mean," Tom interrupted. "I'm sure you didn't mean for it to hurt anyone, but you have to know that monsters don't make good pets."

"It wasn't him!" the boy protested, standing in front of the trunk protectively. "He wouldn'…! He never…!"

"Stand aside," Riddle warned, raising his wand.

Suddenly, whatever it was that was in the trunk burst out, scuttling past Riddle as he fired off spells at it. The monster went through Yugi as it tore through the corridor and disappeared around the corner. Riddle snarled, making to go after the creature, but the large boy grabbed him, preventing him from going after it.

Just as Tom Riddle started to break free from the boy's grasp, the world around Yugi started to tilt and whirl about sickeningly. All of a sudden, he found himself falling through darkness at an unnervingly rapid pace. He landed in his chair in the library, almost breaking the furniture.

Yugi looked around in shock, making sure he was in his proper time. He spotted the Millennium Puzzle resting next to Riddle's diary, and slipped it back on gratefully.

_Aibou, where the _hell_ did you go!_ Yami Yugi demanded almost immediately. Yugi winced, able to tell through their bond that his other half had been worrying his head off.

_I'll tell you on the way to the common room,_ he replied numbly, gathering his supplies. _But, I think Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago. _

-.oOOo.-

Yugi was regretting figuring out how Riddle's diary work, as his friends kept hammering him with questions. He had to repeat what he had seen in the "memory world" what seemed like a million times. The only thing that saved him from repeating it a million and first time, was the shocking announcement Draco had for them when they were in the library some time before Easter break, after an unusually long recovery in the hospital wing.

"Re-sorted!" Ron exclaimed, disbelieving. "But no one's ever been re-sorted before!"

"I _know_ that, Ron," Draco replied, soured by his reaction. "Dumbledore said switching me over to Gryffindor was mostly for my protection. Personally, I don't want to be jumped while I'm sleeping again."

"So, what, did you have to put the Sorting Hat on again?" Harry asked.

Draco looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well, no, I didn't want to," he replied. "I'm afraid what it would say."

"Well, the only thing I have to say is you better watch out for the Weasley twins," Marik warned. "They have a tendency to play pranks on easy targets."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Just what are you implying?"

"Anyway," Seto jumped in before sparks started flying. "What do you think we should do about Hagrid?"

"You think we should ask him?" Bakura asked, his voice unsure.

"Oh, that'll be a cheerful visit," Yugi replied sourly. "'Hey, Hagrid, have you been setting any hairy monsters loose lately?'"

In the end, they opted not to ask Hagrid about his expulsion unless there was another attack. This was looking less and less likely, however; the attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been nearly four months ago, and there had not been a peep out of the voice in the walls or any other attacks since. Students were starting to treat Harry like a normal person again, and sometime after April Fools Day, the mandrakes they had repotted back in the beginning of the year threw a party they were able to hear all the way in the castle. This actually made Professor Sprout happy, though, for it meant that the plants were close to maturity; and as soon as they started trying to move into other mandrake's pots, they were ready to be used as a restorative for the people who had been petrified.

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight," Marik said after the professor told them. "Once they start getting horny, then it's time to chop them up and stew them? Oh, _that's_ an encouraging thought…"

Easter break also brought something else the second year students had to worry about. They had to choose the elective courses they would have to take next year. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Yugi, and Marik poured over the list of courses available during lunch one day, trying to decide what to take.

"This is very important to our future, you know," Hermione said, signing up for everything on the list.

"Shame we can't give up our old classes," Harry commented dryly.

"No kidding," Ron agreed. "If we could, I would've dropped Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But that's an important class!" Hermione protested.

"Not the way Lockhart teaches it," Marik added dryly. "The only thing I've learned in his class is not to let pixies loose in a classroom."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Do I _want_ to know?"

"No," Harry, Yugi, Marik, and Ron said at the same time.

In the end, the boys all ended up taking both Divination and Care of Magical Creatures together. Yugi and Marik also signed up for the new class, Ancient Egyptian Magic ("With Yami Yugi, you could probably teach that class," Harry commented). To everyone's surprise, Draco also signed up for Muggle Studies.

"Hey, look at it this way," he said to his defense. "I'm not going to be able to go home this summer, or ever again for that matter. I may as well try and find out how to live in the 'other' world, don't you think?"

"How did your father find out about your change of heart anyway?" Yugi asked.

"You mean you didn't know?" Draco asked. "My father's one of twelve governors of this school."

-.oOOo.-

The next Quidditch match was going to be against Hufflepuff. Although that house did not have much of a team that year, the Gryffindor team captain, Oliver Wood, insisted that they practice every single day for hours on end. That left Harry and Marik with only enough time for practice and homework. At least the sessions were getting drier and spirits were lighter than they had been before the match against Slytherin back in November. The two seekers were excited about it all as they locked up their brooms in the broom shed the evening before the match. It was looking like they were going to get the Quidditch cup again this year!

Their good mood soon faded though, as they entered the bedroom they shared with the other Gryffindor second years. They found Yugi's section of the room practically torn apart, with his books and robes and cards scattered all over the place. The Japanese boy himself was on his knees, looking through the mess while trying to straighten it all out.

"Yugi-kun, what happened?" Marik asked, bending down to help him out.

"What's it look like happened?" Yugi returned miserably. "Someone trashed my stuff."

A suspicious look crossed Marik's face. "You don't think Malfoy…?"

Yugi shook his head. "No, he's studying with the others. I was too, but I forgot some of my notes."

"But either way, only a Gryffindor could have come in here," Harry protested. "No one else has our password."

"No kidding," Yugi replied. He paused a moment, looking through the books on the floor. "Wait a minute… Riddle's diary is gone!"

-.oOOo.-

Despite the missing magical diary, when Harry and Marik woke up the next morning, nothing could dampen their good mood. Outside, the sun was shining beautifully, and a light breeze whispered though the trees of the forbidden forest. It was the perfect kind of weather for Quidditch, and the younger seeker was practically skipping as him and his friends made their way down the front foyer stairs to go outside. That was, until…

_Kill this time… let me rip… tear… _

Harry and Draco stopped dead in their tracks, whirling on one another.

"Did you hear that!" they asked each other at the same time.

"You guys heard something?" Yugi asked.

Harry looked down at him, perplexed. "You mean you didn't?"

Suddenly, Hermione's eyes lit up as a sudden idea dawned on her. She clapped a hand to her forehead, as if she just figured out something completely obvious.

"I think I've just figured something out!" she exclaimed, grabbing Seto by the arm. "C'mon! We've gotta go to the library!"

Seto let out a yelp of surprise as she dragged him back up the stairs and out of sight, leaving the other boys staring after them in confusion.

"Did I just miss something?" Draco asked.

Marik shook his head ruefully. "No, just Hermi-chan being herself," he answered. "When she's in doubt, she grabs the unfortunate soul who's unlucky enough to be standing next to her and runs for the library."

"We'd better hurry," Ron said. "The match…"

The six of them raced off to the Quidditch field – Harry and Marik heading for the broom shed and locker room, while Yugi, Bakura, Ron, and Draco headed off for the stands. Harry's mood had been shattered by the disembodied voice, however. His only comfort was that everyone was out in the stands and not in the castle.

The Gryffindor team headed out onto the field, leaving Marik to take up his position near the entrance of their locker room, already looking like he was ready to jump out there in the event that Harry was seriously injured. Wood took off for a practice flight around the stadium, while Madam Hooch released the Bludgers and Golden Snitch.

Then, Harry saw a sight that made his heart sink. Professor McGonagall came half-marching, half-running out onto the field, a large purple megaphone in her hand.

"This match has been canceled!" she shouted through the device. Boos and jeers erupted from the stands. Wood practically fell out of the air in shock. "All students are to make their way to their house common rooms," she continued, ignoring the reactions, "and the Heads of Houses will fill you in on the details."

McGonagall lowered her megaphone, and to Harry's surprise, beckoned to him and Marik.

"I think you two better come with me…"

Confused, they followed her, making their way back to the castle separately. Ron, Draco, Yugi, and Bakura broke away from the crowd and raced up to them just as they were about to enter the castle. To their surprise, McGonagall did not object.

"Yes, I think it would be best if you all came."

They exchanged worried looks as they followed McGonagall through the crowded hallways and up to the hospital wing.

"Now, this might come as a bit of a shock," she said in a gentle voice as they entered. "There has been another attack… a _triple _attack."

They passed the curtained off beds that held Colin and Justin, to see Madam Pomfrey bent over a curly haired girl. The boys recognized her as the Ravenclaw prefect. On the beds across and next to her, however…

Marik fell to his knees, a horrified look on his face. "No… Ra almighty, no…"

Hermione and Seto lay utterly still on their beds, looks of shock frozen on their faces.

"Move!"

Yugi flailed to regain his balance as Yami Bakura shoved him and Ron out of the way. He came up alongside Seto, reached out, and pressed his thumb and forefinger on the petrified boy's temples. After a moment, the tomb robber snapped his hand away as if he had been bitten, a horrified look on his face.

"Make that quadruple attack…" he muttered, his eyes wide in shock. He turned to Yugi. "Even we're not safe."

A small yelp of fear escaped from Yugi's mouth as he gripped the Millennium Puzzle. During all this, Marik had drifted over to Hermione's side, his shaking fingers barely touching her cheek. The others were just staring at their petrified friends in shock, still trying to process what they were seeing.

"They were found near the library," Professor McGonagall said softly. "I don't suppose you could explain this? It was on the floor near them."

She held up a small flip up hand mirror, the glass of which was cracked from being dropped. It was obviously Seto's, because there was an etching of the Blue Eyes White Dragon on the back. The six of them just shook their heads, though Harry had a distinct feeling that if this had not happened, they would be able to explain it.

"I will escort you back to your houses," McGonagall said heavily. "I need to address my house in any case."


	10. Revelations

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER TEN – REVELATIONS**

After the attacks on Hermione and Seto, the others had no choice but to ask Hagrid about what happened fifty years ago. That night, Harry, Yugi, Marik, Ron, and Draco waited until their other dorm mates were sound asleep before Harry took his invisibility cloak from its hiding space in his trunk and headed downstairs to the common room.

"So, who's going to go?" Yugi asked. "Only three of us can really fit under that cloak."

"I'm definitely going," Harry declared quietly.

"I want to go too," Draco said.

The other three boys looked at each other a moment, before Marik finally stepped forward. "I'm going too," he said. "I have to."

"Marik-kun…" Yugi muttered, worried. Marik turned and gave him a thumbs up, though.

"No worries, Yugi-kun," he said, before him, Harry, and Draco disappeared under the invisibility cloak. Ron and Yugi stood watching in silence as there was a swift patter of footsteps, and the portrait of the fat lady in the pink dress swung open.

"Good luck, guys," Ron murmured as the portrait was gently shut once again.

-.oOOo.-

Harry thought they would never reach the double doors that led to the grounds outside. The corridors of the school, which normally only had Filch stalking through them, were jam-packed with professors and prefects. The cloak did not prevent them from being heard, and there was a particularly tense moment when Draco bumped into a suit of armor a few feet from where Snape was standing guard. Fortunately, the Potions Master sneezed at the same time the armor squeaked in protest.

It was with relief that the three of them emerged from the castle and into the clear, starry night outside. They raced across the grounds, not stopping until they were safely at Hagrid's lighted hut near the forbidden forest. Harry tossed off the invincibility cloak before reaching up and knocking on the door. It flew open a few seconds later, and they found themselves staring down the shaft of a crossbow. Draco let out a squeak of surprised as Hagrid lowered the weapon.

"Oh," he said, sounding relieved and distracted all at once. "What're you three doin' here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Marik asked, before motioning to the crossbow still clutched in Hagrid's hand. "What in the name of Ra is _that_ for?"

"Nothin', nothin'," the giant man replied. "I've just bin expectin'… Doesn' matter. Sit down, I'll make tea…"

Hagrid was obviously anxious about something. He nearly extinguished the fire when he put the teakettle in, as his hand was shaking so badly that water sloshed all over the place.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked. "Did you hear about Hermione and Seto?"

"Oh, I heard, all righ'," Hagrid replied, a slight break in his voice.

He poured them hot water from the teapot – as he had forgotten to add teabags – and was about to cut each of them a thick slice of fruitcake when there came a knocking on the door. He literally dropped the fruitcake as the three boys exchanged worried looks. They rushed over to the corner, throwing the invisibility cloak over themselves as Hagrid went for the door. He made sure they were safely out of sight before opening it. Dumbledore was revealed on the other side, a serious and grave look on his face. Behind him was another elderly man, dressed in an odd combination of a muggle suit and a wizard's cloak.

"That's Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic," Draco breathed. Marik elbowed him to keep quiet.

"Good evening, Hagrid," Dumbledore said, trying to calm the giant man with his voice, but it was not working. Hagrid was practically sweating buckets as he dropped into a chair.

"Bad business, Hagrid," Fudge announced in a clipped tone. "Very bad business indeed. Four attacks on muggle borns; things have gone far enough. The Ministry's got to act."

"But I never…" Hagrid protested, looking imploringly to Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore, sir, you know I never…!"

"I want it understood, Fudge," Dumbledore said, his normally gentle eyes full of a determined fire, "that Hagrid has my full confidence. Taking him from this school will do no good."

Hagrid's eyes darted between the two men at that. "Take me? Take me where?" he demanded. Then a horrified look dawned on his face. "Not Azkaban!"

Fudge was about to stutter out an explanation, when a sharp rap came on the door. Dumbledore answered it, and Draco had to be elbowed again. Mr. Lucius Malfoy strode into the room, a black traveling cloak swathed over his shoulders.

"Already here, Fudge?" he asked. "Good, good…"

"What're you doin' here?" Hagrid demanded. "Get outta my house!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Believe me, my dear man, I have no pleasure in being in your… did you call this a _house?"_ he sneered, looking around the small cabin. "I simply called at the school and was told the headmaster was out here."

"And what exactly do you want of me, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, a deadpan look about his face.

_"Dreadful_ thing, Dumbledore," Malfoy said lazily, pulling out a roll of parchment from his cloak, "but the governors feel it's time for you to step down. This is an Order of Suspension. You'll find that all twelve signatures are on it."

_"No!" _Hagrid shouted, thundering to his feet. "Yeh can' take, Dumbledore! Take him away, an' the muggle borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin's next!"

"Oh, is that a confession?" Malfoy replied, smirking at him. Hagrid looked like he was going to snap the man in half.

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore said, looking sharply at that gamekeeper before turning back to Malfoy. "If the governors want my suspension, then they shall have it –"

"But…!" Fudge protested.

"Yeh can'!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"However," Dumbledore continued, "you will find that I have only _truly_ left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given here at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Harry got the distinct impression that the headmaster was looking directly at them as he said that. Malfoy did not notice. He just rolled his eyes, un-amused.

"Admirable sentiments," he said dryly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I must speak with that son of mine about recent… events."

Malfoy bowed Dumbledore out, before following himself. Harry and Marik were not paying attention to that, however; they had their eyes on Draco, who looked like he was going to pass out in fright. Fudge, in the meantime, was waiting for Hagrid to leave, but the giant had paused a moment, looking around.

"If anyone wanted ter find out some _stuff,"_ he began, speaking slowly, "all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the _spiders._ That'd lead 'em righ'! That's all I'm sayin'!"

Fudge stared up at him, confused.

"All right, I'm comin'," Hagrid grumbled, grabbing his moleskin coat and shrugging it on. He was about halfway out the door when he shouted over his shoulder, "And someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm gone."

The door banged shut behind Fudge, and the three boys waited a moment before pulling the invisibility cloak off. Draco collapsed into a chair, breathing heavily and looking paler than normal.

"Good thing I came along," he muttered. "If I didn't, I might be dead by now."

"You're going to have to confront your father one of these days, Draco," Marik pointed out, plopping down in a chair across from him. As if it were possible, Draco's face paled even more.

"Let's deal with one thing at a time, okay?" he asked. "Right now we're in a bad situation. Without Dumbledore, there'll be an attack a day. They may as well just close the school tonight."

"C'mon," Harry said, heading for the door. "Let's go back and tell the others what we've found out."

In all the time that he had had it, Marik had never really figured out how the Millennium Ring was supposed to work. He knew, though, that one of its special abilities was to be able to point the wearer in the direction of something the person truly desired. So, when the three of them stepped outside and were about to don on the invisibility cloak once more, Marik was shocked when two points on the left side of the Ring suddenly came to life, glowing brightly and pointing off to the forbidden forest.

"Hey, look!" he exclaimed, holding up the Ring while turning to face the forest. All five points came to life at the change of direction, all of them pointing toward the forest. He raced to the outskirts and looked around a moment before taking out his wand and shouting, "Lumos!"

The tip of the wand started to glow and he swept it about the ground. "Look, guys, c'mere!"

Harry and Draco raced up on either side of him, and Marik held the wand in one position so they could see. Spiders – small, jet black, and almost impossible to see – were scuttling about the ground, trying to get away from the light.

"Didn't Hagrid say, 'follow the spiders'?" Harry asked.

"I thought he was just ranting," Draco replied.

"There's only one way to find out," Marik stated, holding up the Ring once more. The points of the Millennium Item were still pointed directly at the forbidden forest. "We should be able to follow them easily enough with this."

Huddling close together with Marik in the lead, they headed into the forest. The points of the Millennium Ring glowed brightly in the surrounding darkness, only changing direction once or twice but more or less leading them straight into the heart of the dreary place. Marik was so focused on keeping the Item working, that he did not notice much of anything, but Harry and Draco were practically jumping every time an owl hooted or a distant werewolf howled.

Draco let out a yelp of horror suddenly, grabbing a hold of the hood of Marik's robe and nearly strangling him. He glared at the younger boy out of the corner of his eye.

"What the heck is your problem?" he demanded.

"Shh!" Harry snapped. "There's something coming this way. Listen."

The three of them listened in hushed silence. Somewhere off to their right, _something_ was crashing through the trees, carving a path toward them. Marik's eyes grew wide, his imagination coming up with several horrifying possibilities.

"Oh no…" he muttered. "Oh no, oh no, oh no…"

"Quiet, it'll hear you," Harry hissed.

"Hear _me!"_ Marik exclaimed, pointing to Draco. "It's already heard _him!"_

There was an odd rumbling sound, and then total silence. The three boys stood absolutely still, huddled so close together it was like they were joined together.

"What do you think it's doing?" Harry asked.

"Probably getting ready to pounce," Marik answered with a gulp.

There was a very pregnant pause.

"Do you think it's gone?" Draco whispered.

"Dunno –"

Suddenly, a bright light flared to life from the direction the sounds had come from, making all of them shield their eyes. Draco tried to run for cover, but his legs got tangled in a tree root, and he ended up falling flat on his face. When after a moment of nothing happening, Marik squinted past the light, trying to see what it was.

"Harry, it's the Anglia!" he exclaimed, disbelieving.

"What!" Harry exclaimed, walking toward the light.

Sure enough, there was the Weasley's Ford Anglia staring right back at them, like a domestic dog that had been let loose in the wild for a few weeks. Draco weakly got to his feet, looking embarrassed that he had panicked over a simple car. Marik looked around a moment, frowning, before turning back to the Millennium Ring. In all the excitement over the car, he had lost his concentration, and the points had gone dead.

"Darn," he muttered. "I've lost the trail. Harry, do you think you could—"

He cut himself off when he saw the refreshed look of horror on Draco's face. The young English boy's lip was trembling, his gaze focused on something at least ten feet above him. Harry was also staring, wide-eyed, his mouth working but no sound coming out of it.

"Oh what is with—?"

The words were barely out of Marik's mouth when something long, hairy, and sticky grabbed him around the waist and hauled him up into the air. He heard a clicking noise coming from somewhere, and saw Harry's feet leave the ground. Judging from the girlish scream a few seconds later, Draco was also captured by the big things.

The creatures holding them took off at a rapid pace through the forest as Marik looked down, trying to determine who or what their captors were. All he was able to see, however, was a bunch of long, hairy legs. He gulped; Hagrid had said to follow the spiders, but he had failed to mention just _how big_ those spiders were!

After what seemed like hours, they came to a halt in a small clearing. Branches above had been purposefully snapped back, allowing the moonlight to flood in on a sight that made Marik blanch. There were _hundreds_ of spiders, and not just small ones that he was used to working with in Potions. Some of these spiders ranged from the size of a large dog to an American SUV, and all of them were black, hairy, had eight legs, eight eyes, and a set of pincers that were clicking rapidly at the sight of the three humans.

Marik was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, and Harry and Draco followed soon after. The latter boy looked like he felt; his mouth was open in a silent scream of horror.

"Aragog! Aragog!"

The Egyptian boy looked around as the spiders started chanting, getting up to his knees. What was going to happen now? Were they going to be sacrificed to some grand high "god" spider? Unfortunately, that was looking like the case, as a gargantuan spider the size of a small elephant hauled itself out of a collection of webbing in the center of the clearing. There were some graying patches in the hair that covered its body, and its eyes were a milky white, indicating that it was blind.

"What is it?" Aragog the spider clicked.

"Men," answered the spider that captured Harry.

"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog asked.

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Marik said, somehow finding his voice. Several of the spiders started clicking furiously.

"Friends of Hagrid's?" Aragog repeated, sounding like he did not trust them. "Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before."

"He's in trouble," Marik explained, trying to sound trustworthy. "People are saying he let a… something loose in the school. He's been taken to Azkaban."

Aragog clicked furiously. "But that was _years_ ago!" the spider exclaimed. "They believed that _I_ was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets."

"So… so you don't come from the Chamber?" Harry asked, shakily.

"I!" Aragog scoffed. "I was not even born in this land. I came to Hagrid as an egg, thanks to a traveler, and he has taken care of me and mine ever since."

"So, you never attacked anyone?" Marik asked.

"Though it is in my nature, for Hagrid's sake, I did not," the elderly spider replied. "The girl that died fifty years ago was found in a bathroom. I never left the safety of the chest that Hagrid kept me in."

"Do you know what _did_ kill that girl?" Marik asked. "Because whatever it is, it's attacking agai—"

The rest of what he said was drowned out by the angry clicking coming from all the spiders.

"We do not speak of it!" Aragog thundered. "We do not name it! The thing that lives in the castle is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others!"

Marik wanted to ask another question, but he stopped as he became aware of something pulling on his sleeve. Draco was tugging at him, pointing around frantically. The spiders were getting closer… dangerously closer…

"Uh… well… we'll just go then," he said instead, trying to scramble to his feet.

"Go?" Aragog asked, a bit of a humored note in his voice. "I think not. Though my children do not harm Hagrid on my command, I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid."

Marik and Harry pulled out their wands – Draco was too numb with fright to even get to his feet – as the spiders advanced ever closer. They did not think they would be able to do much good, however; any of the spells they knew seemed rather worthless in a situation like this. Suddenly, a long, loud note rang through the clearing as it was flooded with a bright light. The Anglia came roaring in, scattering spiders as it skidded to a halt in front of the boys.

"Grab Draco!" Marik shouted, diving into the driver's seat.

The hope of escape managed to melt away some of Draco's fear, and soon him and Harry were secured in the front seat. Marik's foot hit the floor as soon as the door had slammed shut, running over some spiders as he swerved the car around to face forward. They soon found themselves crashing through the trees, swerving in and out of the giant ones and running over the little ones. Harry winced when they hit a fairly large rock, almost flipping the car over.

"Where did you learn to drive?" he asked, holding onto the seat. Marik shot him a sour glance.

"Hey, cut me a break," he replied, squeezing the Anglia in-between two giant oaks. "I'm used to desert driving; the kind of driving where there is no road and you post your own speed limit."

Harry stared at him as the trees started to thin. "You mean you _have _your driver's license?"

Marik allowed himself a boastful grin. "You forget: I'm sixteen. I've had both my driver's license _and_ my motorcycle license since I was thirteen." His expression soured then. "I just haven't been licensed to drive in Japan yet. Their test is impossible."

They finally emerged from the forbidden forest then, coming to a gentle stop in front of Hagrid's house before Harry and Marik turned their attention to Draco. He was frozen in his seat, his eyes wide with lingering fright.

"Go get the cloak," Marik ordered. "I'll deal with the stiff here."

Harry got out of the car and went up to Hagrid's porch where he had left his invisibility cloak. As soon as he recovered it, however, he caught sight of Draco running for the pumpkin patch in the back of the house. The sound of retching soon followed as Marik went to help him. The Anglia, with no drivers present, closed its doors and retreated back into the forest.

Harry walked around back, to find that Draco had already finished being sick. He was standing up slowly, with Marik helping him and asking if he was all right.

"Follow the spiders," the pale boy muttered irritably. "Follow the spiders! I don't care how much you all love that crazy oaf! When Hagrid gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!"

Harry and Marik exchanged amused looks as he started ranting about how he had never been so scared in his life.

"I mean," he continued, "what was the _point_ of all that! What did we learn tonight that we did not already know?"

Harry's expression suddenly turned serious. "Well, we do know one thing for sure. Hagrid's been innocent these past fifty years."

-.oOOo.-

Other than Hagrid's innocence, however, they had not learned much else from their trip into the forest. Weeks later, Bakura, Yugi, and Ron were still pressing them for more details, trying to find out what it was like down in that clearing. Draco threatened to throw them into the forest to find out for themselves what it was like. That threat, coupled with the fact that final exams were looming on the horizon stopped anymore questioning about the forest trip.

Sometime in the beginning of June found Marik in the hospital wing, sitting next to Hermione's bed. He was worried, even though he had no reason to be. The mandrakes were going to be fully mature in at least a week, and there had not been any more attacks. Still, the nagging feeling of doom in the back of his mind refused to go away, and prevented him from focusing long enough to study in the library with his friends like he usually did on breaks.

"Why don't you visit Hermione, Marik-kun?" Yugi had suggested. "We all know you miss her. We may all be friends here, but we know despite how much you argue, you and Hermione are more than friends."

So he went to Hermione's side, despite Madam Pomfrey's protests. After a moment, he rested his hands on her frozen arm, and gentle smile on his face.

"It's hard without you around, you know?" he asked. "We're so lost right now, it isn't funny. You always have the answers to everything. We really miss you."

His voice cracked at that. He rested his forehead on her arm, trying to hide his emotions.

"I miss you so much," he muttered, his voice shaking.

It was then that Marik became aware of a slight warmth coming from the back pocket of his jeans. He snapped his head up, surprised. Though he had been carrying the Millennium Tauk around in his back pocket since his sister had given it to him, he had not really paid it much heed. The Item always seemed to be reacting to someone, and after awhile, he just gave up on trying to figure out who it was. He had simply dismissed it as a "malfunction" of sorts, never mind the fact that it was unlikely that was the case.

Marik pulled the Item out of his back pocket and unwrapped it. Sure enough, it was glowing brightly, and there was only one of four people it could have been reacting to in the room. He got up from his seat, going over to the bed that the Ravenclaw prefect lay on to try it on her first. However, as he got closer, the glow faded.

Marik frowned, walking backward back to Hermione's bed. The glow started getting brighter again, much to his surprise. Just to make sure, he walked forward again, heading back to the other petrified students. Sure enough, the glow started to dissipate again, and was only replenished when he was near Hermione's bed. He let out a shuddering breath at that realization: there was only one way to make sure. Reaching behind her stiff neck, Marik brought the Tauk around to fasten in the back. As soon as the clasp was locked, the glow from the Item was instantly snuffed out. He sighed; there was no denying it now.

Hermione was the new owner of the Millennium Tauk.

"Well, Hermi-chan," he said, taking one of her hands in his, "looks like we're going to have a lot to—"

Marik cut himself off, taking his hands away and peering inside the one he was holding. Some sort of paper was crumpled up inside her stony grasp. With a bit of tugging, he was able to pull it free without tearing it. He smoothed the paper out and began to read, his eyes widening with each word. He looked down to her in shock, before reaching over and giving her forehead a kiss.

"Hermi-chan, you're the best!" he exclaimed. "There'll be more where that came from when you wake up, I promise. Right now I gotta tell Harry and the others about this."

With that said, Marik took off like a shot, hoping to make it to the library in record time.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi let out a mighty yawn as he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room alone. Though he never told anyone, like Marik, he too felt a nagging sense of doom tugging at the back of his mind, one that bothered him so much that studying was impossible. His feeling, however, had been harassing him since he had opened Riddle's diary. He did not know why, but he just knew that figuring out how it worked was going to come back at him somehow.

Going past the stairs that led to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom made Yugi stop in his tracks. He looked up the small flight. Was that Ginny up there?

"Hey, Ginny!" he called, running up the stairs. "Are you all right? What are you doing outside of the common room?"

The youngest Weasley did not answer him. She just stood there, staring vacantly at the wall that held the words that had been left after Mrs. Norris was attacked. Yugi took a couple more steps closer to her, concern etched on his face.

"Ginny, are you okay?" he asked. "C'mon, lets go. I'll take you back to the common room."

Ginny turned to him then, and Yugi took a reflexive step backward. She had an empty and vacant look to her eyes, a look that he was all too familiar with. It was the same look he used to see on GHOULS Rare Hunters, back when Marik had wanted to kill him and Yami Yugi, and even went so far as to brainwash Jonouchi and Anzu.

"Ginny, what's going on?" Yugi demanded. "Who's controlling you! Who is it!"

Again, she did not answer; she just reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin, black leather covered book.

Riddle's diary!

Yugi was about to demand that she give him the book, when she opened it to the center, showing off a glowing spine. He was about to tackle her, to take the book by force, to do something; but somehow he could not. When he tried to move his legs, they were sluggish, as if he were walking though knee-deep water. He became dimly aware of his consciousness drifting, as if his Soul Door was being forced closed, cutting him off from his own body.

_Aibou, are you all right?_ he vaguely heard his other half ask, his voice riddled with concern. _Aibou? Ai— _

Yami Yugi was interrupted as their bond was cut off. Ginny had reached over and removed the Millennium Puzzle from around his neck, silencing the voice of the pharaoh and allowing the effects of the book to completely take control of Yugi.

The Millennium Puzzle clattered to the ground, a few of the pieces falling loose, as Yugi and Ginny walked off, following the voice of an unheard master…


	11. The Chamber of Secrets

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN – THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS**

Marik pounded into the library, gasping for breath. He looked about frantically, looking for his friends and ignoring Madam Pinch's reproving look. Spotting them off in a private corner, he raced up to them, waving the piece of paper he had found in Hermione's grasp.

"What are you so excited about?" Ron asked.

"Hermione _did_ figure out what was in the Chamber of Secrets," Marik announced, laying the paper, which had obviously been torn out of an old book, on the table so all of them could read:

Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.

Harry's eyes grew wide as he finished reading the excerpt, hardly believing it. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "Spiders flee before it… the dead roosters… It all makes sense now."

"Yeah…" Draco muttered; looking like his birthday had come early. "Yeah! Of course! The monster in the Chamber is a Basilisk, a snake! That's why only me and Harry could hear it!"

"Waitta minute," Bakura interjected. "You're a Parselmouth too?"

All eyes went to Draco, who started blushing.

"Um… well… yeah…" he mumbled under his breath, fidgeting in his seat. "Anyway, there's just one problem. No one's died."

"That's because no one's looked it in the eye," Harry pointed out. "Think about it. Colin saw the Basilisk through his camera. That's why the film was all burnt up, but Colin just got petrified. Justin…"

"Justin must've seen it through Nearly Headless Nick!" Bakura exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Nick probably got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die _again._ That's probably why Yami Seto only got petrified as well."

"And Hermione, Seto, and that Ravenclaw girl were found with Seto's mirror near them," Marik added. "I'll bet you anything they had just figured out that the creature was a Basilisk and were warning people to look around corners with a mirror."

"What about Mrs. Norris…?" Ron asked.

Draco scrunched his face up in thought. "The water," he declared. "There was water on the floor that night. She only saw its reflection."

"But, how's it been getting around the school?" Bakura asked. "Something that big; someone was bound to notice."

"Hermione answered that question already," Marik said, pointing to the bottom of the torn page. The word "pipes" was written in Hermione's tidy scrawl. "It's been getting around through the plumbing. A building this old probably has some pretty big pipes all through it."

"It also explains why we heard the voice coming from the walls," Harry added.

"This is all well and good," Ron cut in, "but we still have no idea _where_ the Chamber is."

They were all silent at that, trying to think of where the Chamber of Secrets could possibly be. All of a sudden, Draco let out a yelp and jumped in his seat, looking like he had been stung.

"Harry, what did Aragog say about the person who died?" he asked excitedly. "'The girl who died fifty years ago was found in a bathroom'? What if she never left that bathroom?"

Ron's eyes grew wide. "Oh, please say your joking!"

"There's only one way to know for sure," Harry declared, standing up from his seat. "We should go get Yugi. I think he said he was going back to the common room. He'll probably want in on this."

The five of them raced out of the library, ignoring Madam Pinch as she shouted for them to walk. They made it to the stairs that led up the Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, when something made Marik stop. Looking up, he caught sight of Professor McGonagall and the other professors standing near where the first attack occurred. He silently urged the others to stop as well while straining to hear what the professors were saying.

"It's happened," McGonagall announced as the five boys silently gathered around the edge of the landing overhead. "Two students have been taken by the monster, right into the Chamber of Secrets itself."

Professor Flitwick let out a squeal of horror, while Professor Sprout clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Who is it?" Snape asked, a rare look of dread on his face. "Which students?"

Professor McGonagall held up something small and golden. Marik's eyes widen; though it was misshapen from some of the pieces being knocked out of place, there was no mistaking the Millennium Puzzle.

"Yugi Mutou and Ginny Weasley," she announced in a choked voice.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marik saw Ron fall to his knees in numb disbelief. That instant, overhead, Lockhart joined the gathering of grim professors, beaming as always.

"Sorry, dozed off, what did I miss?" he asked. The other professors fixed him with angry glares; under normal circumstances they would have found this funny, but the five boys were just two shocked to even react. Snape stepped forward, a sneer on his face.

"Just the man for the job," he announced, his tone mocking. "Two students have been taken into the Chamber itself. Your moment has come at last."

Lockhart blanched.

"You _are_ our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher after all," McGonagall added, her tone matching Snape's. "We'll leave it to you."

Lockhart looked as white as a sheet. He nodded numbly. "V-very well," he agreed. "I'll… I'll j-just be g-getting ready."

He took off back down the same hallway he had arrived, walking a little too fast. The professors all rolled their eyes before returning to the situation at hand.

"Now that _he's_ out of our hair," McGonagall began bitterly, "I'll make the announcement for all students to return to their common rooms. The Heads of Houses should address the students and let them know what happened. Also, inform them that the Hogwarts Express will be taking them home first thing tomorrow morning."

With that said, the teachers headed down the hallway opposite from Harry, Marik, Ron, Bakura, and Draco. As soon as they had disappeared from sight, the five boys clambered up the small staircase, racing over to where the professors had been standing. There, on the wall, right underneath the first message that had been left was another, more chilling note.

THEIR SKELETONS SHALL  
LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER

"Oh Kami-sama…" Bakura breathed. "Yugi-kun… Ginny…"

"We've got to do something," Draco declared, pounding a fist into his open palm. "Maybe we should go to Lockhart. Idiot he may be, but he might also actually try to get into the Chamber. We could at least tell him what we know."

It was as good a plan as any; the boys took off down the hallway Lockhart had disappeared down, quickly coming up on his office. Frowning, Ron pressed an ear against the door. There was the sound of much activity going on inside. Harry rapped on the door, and the shuffling within stopped. A moment later, the door opened a crack, only wide enough for them to see about half of the professor's face.

"Oh, gentlemen," he began. "I'm in a bit of a hurry. If you would be quick."

"We have some information for you, professor," Harry announced. "You might find it useful."

"I don't… it's not…" Lockhart sputtered. Finally, he sighed and opened the door the rest of the way. "Come in."

When Harry had first been in the office, back when he had had detention in the beginning of the year, the walls had literally been covered with posters and framed pictures of Lockhart and his smiling face. Now, however, the walls had been stripped bare, and several trunks were scattered about the room. One of them had a lavender robe poking out of it.

"Are you_ going_ somewhere?" Draco demanded.

"Uh… yes, I'm afraid," Lockhart answered shakily. "Urgent business; unavoidable…"

"But what about my sister!" Ron demanded. "What about Yugi!"

"Well, as to that," the professor began, wrenching open a shelf on a dresser and emptying the contents into a trunk, "terrible circumstances. No one regrets more than I –"

"But you're the Defense Against the Dark Art teacher!" Harry cut him off. "You can't leave now!"

"My dear boy, when I took the job, things like this were _not_ in the job description!" Lockhart shot back.

"You've got to be joking," Bakura said, incredulous. "After all those things you've done in your books."

"Books can be misleading," Lockhart replied delicately.

The five boys clamped their mouths shut, staring at the professor in horror.

"You're not being serious, are you?" Marik asked. "All the people who admire you for the things you've done, and now you're saying it's all a lie!"

"My dear boy," the professor stressed, "do you think my books would have sold half as well if people did _not_ believe I did those things? No one wants to read about an ugly old Armenian warlock or a witch with harelip!"

The boys were downright scowling now, glaring at the professor with absolute hatred.

"Is there anything you _can_ do, then?" Draco asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Lockhart replied, pulling out his wand. "I'm quite good at memory charms. Now, if you gentlemen don't mind, I can't have you going around blabbing about my –"

Marik tore his wand out of his robes and waved it quickly. "Expelliarmus!"

Lockhart was blasted backwards, falling over one of his trunks. His wand went flying as well, and Ron caught it and tossed it out the window. Meanwhile, Marik had grabbed the professor by the collar of his robes, hauling him up to his eye level.

"People like you make me sick," he snarled, looking like he was going to beat him up any minute. "When the time comes for your heart to be weighed, I'll _personally_ make sure Anubis forgoes the ceremony and sends you straight to Ammit! Now, on your feet!"

"B-b-but what do you want me to do?" Lockhart asked, getting shakily to his feet. "I-I don't k-know where the C-C-Chamber is!"

"Well, you're in luck," Draco said, crossing his arms as a smirk appeared on his face. "We think we know where it is, and guess who's coming with us to make sure?"

Lockhart let out a squeak of terror, but otherwise remained silent as the boys led him back out of the office and down to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They pushed him inside – he was shaking so hard at that point that he could barely stand upright – before following him in. Moaning Myrtle was sitting on her toilet as usual, her typical somber expression on her face. She looked up as they entered, surprised to see them.

"Shouldn't you be in your common rooms?" she asked, eyeing Lockhart warily.

"Myrtle, we've come to ask how you died," Harry announced.

Myrtle's eyes lit up at that, as if they had asked a flattering question. "Oh, it was quite dreadful," she said, "and it happened right here in this very stall. I was crying because Olive Hornby was making fun of my glasses, when I heard a boy speaking some strange language. I opened the door to tell him to use his own toilet, and then… I _died!"_

The boys exchanged looks, confused. "Well, how?" Marik asked. "How did it happen?"

Myrtle shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I just remember seeing a pair of big, yellow eyes coming from that sink."

She pointed to a group of five sinks arranged in a circle. Each of the boys took a sink, searching about for any clue that would point them toward the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

"Here!" Bakura exclaimed all of a sudden, his hand feeling around on the faucet of his sink. "I think this is it, guys!"

Marik, Harry, Draco, and Ron gathered around him. The white haired boy pointed out a small etching of a snake, obviously dismissed by girls that would normally use the bathroom as something a Slytherin girl had carved there.

"One of you," Bakura began, turning to Harry and Draco, "try saying something in Parseltongue!"

The two of them exchanged looks, before Draco shrugged and turned to the tap.

"Open up," he ordered. He paused, before looking to the others.

"English," Ron said, shaking his head.

Draco sighed, before turning his attention back to the faucet. He focused his entire imagination on it, trying to pretend that it was a real snake.

"Open up," he repeated.

Only this time, those were not the words that came out of his mouth. A sort of hissing noise escaped from his mouth. What he said did the trick too; the sink with the snake carved on the faucet slid down into the ground as the decorative top of the ring of sinks slid up on supports that had previously been hidden. All this revealed a very large, very black hole that no amount of illumination would show where it led.

"I'm going down there," Harry announced.

"Me too," Ron replied. "I have to, for Ginny."

"For Yugi too," Bakura added. "Yami Yugi-kun will never forgive us if he dies."

"And for Hermione and Seto and everyone else petrified," Marik said solemnly.

Draco let out a shaky breath. "No turning back now."

Lockhart let out a nervous laugh. "Well, you young gentlemen won't be needing me anymore!" he exclaimed as cheerily as he could manage. He started walking back toward the door, when Marik grabbed him by the scruff of his cloak and maneuvered him in front of the hole.

"Oh no you don't," he stated. "You'll be going first!"

"But I –"

"Look at it this way, professor," Draco sneered, "if there's any obstacles in the path, we'll know when to duck."

"But, but…!"

They did not even give him a chance to finish stuttering; both Draco and Marik shoved him into the hole. There was a thud, and Lockhart's screams started fading away almost immediately. Harry followed soon after, lowering himself into the pit a bit before letting go.

It was like riding a roller coaster at night in a slimy seat that had obviously been used more than was healthy. Harry was able to spot other pipes branching off as he went past, but none of them were as large as the one he was sliding swiftly down. The ride seemed to be taking forever, and was only getting more steep as they progressed. He knew that had to have passed the dungeons by now.

_"YAAAAAAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOO!" _

Harry rolled his eyes as the whoop of excitement echoed from behind him. That had to have been Marik. He really was mental.

Just as Harry was starting to worry what would happen when they reached the end, the pipe leveled out, naturally slowing him down enough so that when he shot out the end, he did not hurt himself. He landed with a thud on a damp stone floor in a tunnel large enough to stand in. Just a ways away, Lockhart was getting to his feet, covered in slime and as white as a ghost. Harry rolled out of the way of the pipe so he would not get hit as one after another Ron, Marik, Draco, and Bakura shot out of it.

"Whoo!" Marik exclaimed, bouncing to his feet. "That was fun. Let's do that again sometime."

Draco glared at him from where he had fallen, looking like he was going to be sick. "You're mental," he declared, making the Egyptian boy sweatdrop.

"Yeah, I know. I get that a lot," he replied.

After a moment of trying to look around in the darkness, Harry, Draco, Marik, and Bakura took out their wands, shouting for the spell that lit the tips of them so they could see where they were going. They headed for a small adjoining tunnel, ducking so they could fit through. The tunnel gradually got larger, however, and was big enough for them to stand up straight in when they caught sight of _it._

_It_ was a gigantic snakeskin, at least twenty feet long, and glimmering a sickening poisonous green in the dull wand light. A thud came from behind the five boys; Lockhart had fallen to his knees in shock.

"C'mon, on your feet," Ron ordered, grabbing him by the arm.

Lockhart got to his feet… and then pulled Ron toward him, reaching a hand into the boy's robes. Marik leapt to help him, but was too late. Lockhart was standing triumphant, Ron's wand in his hand and a confident smile on his face.

"The adventure ends here, gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl or the boy, and that you five _tragically _lost your minds at the sight of their mangled bodies. Now, say good bye to your memories!" He waved the wand dramatically. "Obliviate!"

Ron's Spell-o-taped wand backfired, exploding with the force of a small bomb right in Lockhart's face. Harry threw his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the snakeskin, as chunks of ceiling came raining down on them. He suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around his waist and tossed him down the tunnel, totally clear of any danger from the cave-in.

When the rumbling subsided, Harry got back to his feet and turned around. Where the rest of the tunnel had been was a wall of rock and debris. Standing before it with his arms crossed was Bakura, his eyes narrower and his hair spikier.

"Just great," Yami Bakura snarled under his breath, before shouting, "Oy! Marik! Ron! Draco! You all right over there!"

"We're fine, tomb robber!" Marik's voice came, muffled by the wall of rock. "Is Harry all right!"

"I'm fine!" Harry called, coming up to stand beside Yami Bakura. "What about Lockhart? Is he okay?"

"Not really," Ron answered. "The wand blew up in his face."

There was a dull thud followed by a shout of pain, as if Ron had kicked Lockhart in the shins. Yami Bakura snickered at the thought.

"There's no way we can get through!" Draco called, sounding a bit frantic. "It'll take _ages." _

"Calm down!" Yami Bakura snapped, his face stern. "We'll just have to go on ahead. If you can find a way through: great. If not, and we're not back in an hour…"

He let his words hang in the air, giving them all an idea exactly how serious the situation was.

"We'll try to shift some of this rock," Marik announced. "Harry… Bakura… you two be careful."

With that said, Harry and Yami Bakura set off down the rest of the corridor. Soon, the sounds of shuffling rock faded away, leaving the two of them with nothing but their own frayed nerves to distract them from what might lie ahead. Harry kept looking up at the tomb robber nervously. He had not seen him in control as often as he had Yami Yugi or Yami Seto, though anytime he had, the circumstances were not good. Yami Bakura caught him staring at him one time, and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he demanded.

Harry bit his lip. "Err… I'm just wondering why you want to help."

Yami Bakura rolled his eyes. "Because my hikari is a weakling," he answered truthfully. "If he tried to take on a twenty foot snake, he'd either end up dead or running around in a panic. A certain cave full of fake skeletons and inflated rolling boulders back during the Duelist Kingdom Tournament comes to mind."

The tomb robber sniggered at the memory, but the reference was lost on Harry.

"But, I thought you _hated_ Yugi?" he asked, getting a frown out of the Egyptian spirit.

"I've got nothing against the kid," Yami Bakura replied. "It's the pharaoh that pisses me off."

Harry was about to ask why _that_ was, when they turned a bend and came up on a solid wall. It was totally smooth, with the exception to two intertwined serpents carved into it, their eyes set with glimmering emeralds. The two of them gulped; it almost seemed as if the carvings were really alive.

"Well, I think this is your department," the tomb robber declared, crossing his arms.

Harry took a shuddering breath as he stepped closer to the snake carvings. He stared up at them, focusing completely on them and nothing else.

"Open," he commanded, only to hear a hissing sound escape his mouth.

The serpents parted at his command, as the wall cracked open. The halves of the wall slid out of sight, admitting the two of them into the Chamber beyond…


	12. Good, Evil, and Changes of Destiny

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER TWELVE – GOOD, EVIL, AND CHANGES OF DESTINY**

Harry and Yami Bakura found themselves standing at the edge of a very long, dimly lit corridor. A stretch of walkway extended into the darkness before them, and the steady _drip, drip_ of water was coming from somewhere. Columns in the shape of snakeheads lined the path, each with mouths wide open as if waiting to pounce and devour them.

Harry jumped as he felt a hand on his back. He looked up at Yami Bakura, who was gently urging him forward, his eyes roving about the entire Chamber.

"Okay, kid," Yami Bakura said. "Nice and easy. Keep an ear out for the snake."

They proceeded down the pathway, Yami Bakura's narrow eyes constantly flicking back and forth to the pillars and beyond. Somehow, for some strange reason, Harry felt comfortable with the tomb robber accompanying him. Perhaps it was because the Egyptian spirit was familiar in dark and enclosed places, or maybe it was just because that without the presence of the other spirits he was actually a fairly decent person. Either way, he was glad that it was him there and not one of the others.

When they drew even with the final set of pillars, a gargantuan statue as high as the chamber itself loomed into view before them. It was of an elderly wizard, his long thinning beard coming down near the rope belt around his robes. Harry was not focused on that, however, his eyes were down between the feet of the statue. There, lying face down on the stone floor, were two dark robed figures, one with fiery red hair and the other with tri-colored hair.

"Ginny! Yugi!" Harry exclaimed, sprinting to them and falling to his knees. Yami Bakura winced before following him.

"Please don't be dead," Harry urged. He flung his wand aside, grabbing Ginny by the shoulders and turning her over. Yami Bakura flipped Yugi over as well, pulling the small boy onto his lap. Both of them where deathly pale and ice cold, yet their eyes were closed, so they were not petrified. That could only mean…

"C'mon, little pharaoh," Yami Bakura said, slapping Yugi lightly on the face. "Wake up already."

Yugi's head just lolled helplessly to the side. The tomb robber bit his lip, fearing what he would have to tell the pharaoh if the little boy did not wake up. "Oh, yeah, Pharaoh, your hikari died by the way." He knew how _that_ conversation would end.

"They won't wake," came a soft voice. Harry practically jumped out of his skin, and Yami Bakura's head snapped up in surprise. From the shadows, a dark haired boy emerged, his outline lit up by a pale misty glow. Harry frowned; the boy seemed familiar somehow.

"Who… what are you?" he asked.

"A memory," the boy answered, "preserved in a diary for fifty long years."

The boy pointed an area near the feet of the statue, where the black book Yugi had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom lay open. Harry's eyes grew wide, hardly believing it.

"Tom… you're Tom Riddle!"

Riddle nodded.

"Look, this is all well and good," Yami Bakura began, rolling his eyes, "but in case you boys haven't noticed, we're in the _Chamber of Secrets_ with a giant _Basilisk_ roving about. This conversation can wait till later."

"But…!" Harry began to protest.

_"Later,"_ the tomb robber stressed, getting back to his feet and lifting Yugi in his arms at the same time. "Now, get your wand, grab the girl, and let's _go."_

Harry reluctantly agreed, looking around for his wand. It was not where it had landed, however.

"Did you guys see where –"

He cut himself off, looking up to see that Riddle was holding his wand, twirling it between his fingers. Harry reached out to take it, but Riddle simply smirked before slipping it into his cloak pocket.

"You won't be needing it, Harry Potter," the memory stated. "We have much to discuss, after all."

"Are you deaf?" Yami Bakura demanded, starting to get annoyed. "We can talk later, now give him –"

"We will talk _now,"_ Riddle interrupted, an odd look on his face. Harry frowned; looking down at Ginny in his arms, before turning his attention back to the apparition.

"How did Ginny and Yugi get like this?" he asked. A sneer crept onto Riddle's face, an expression that looked eerily out of place.

"It's quite an interesting story, actually," he answered, in a tone that was mockingly pleasant. "I suppose it would start over the summer, when Ginny started pouring her soul to an invisible friend."

Harry clutched Ginny closer to himself. "What do you mean!" he demanded.

"My diary, of course," Riddle replied. "Ginny has been writing to me almost all year. She's been telling me everything, from her deepest secrets to her most pleasant dreams. It's rather boring, you know, listening to the fancies of an eleven-year-old girl, but I was patient. I knew that eventually, as she poured some of herself into me, I would be able to pour some of _myself_ back into her."

Yami Bakura grit his teeth; this was starting to sound familiar. "Let me guess," he snarled. "You possessed Ginny. You made her open this Chamber, and set that snake loose on the school."

"Oh, the mudblood can use his brain," Riddle sneered.

The tomb robber looked like he was going to kill at that statement. "And what does Yugi have to do with all this?" he demanded.

"Well, it took awhile for Ginny to stop trusting her little 'pocket pal'," the memory explained. "She discarded it, and who should come on it but little Yugi Mutou. I knew from what Ginny told me, that Yugi was close to you, Harry Potter. I knew if I could gain his trust, I would gain yours as well, so I showed little Yugi my famous capture of that bumbling oaf, Hagrid."

Harry's eyes narrowed at that. "Hagrid is my friend, but you framed him," he accused. "At first I thought you just made a mistake, but –"

A high, cruel laugh from Riddle cut him off. "It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry!" he exclaimed. "But even showing off that bit of brilliance on my part reaped in some generous rewards. _Yugi_ started sharing some of his secrets with me, without the knowledge of his precious 'other self'. I knew that if I could get him to take off his Puzzle every now and then I could have him pick up where Ginny left off." His face twisted into an ugly sneer. "I could just picture the look on your face if you found out one of your own near and dear friends was responsible for the death of another close to your heart."

Riddle's face morphed into a downright scowl then. "Of course, I never got the chance. Ginny had apparently seen Yugi with the book and stole it back, afraid that I would blab her secrets to him. Unfortunately for them, by that time I needed them for another purpose…

"So, I had poor little Ginny ambush Yugi in the hallway. I made them write their own farewell on the wall, and come down here to wait for death. Ginny cried, and Yugi begged me to let her go; but I'm afraid none of that really matters now. There's not much life left in them, and they've completed what I set out for them to do."

At this point, Harry was looking up at the apparition with more hatred than he had shown even Snape. Yami Bakura's hand was twitching slightly, as if it longed to have something sharp placed in it. Riddle took a menacing step toward them, a mighty scowl on his face.

"Now, tell me, Harry Potter," he snarled, "how is it that _you_ – a skinny scrap of a boy with no extraordinary talent – managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How is it that you escaped with nothing more than a _scar,_ while Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"What do you care?" Harry shot back, not bothering to mask the hatred in his voice. "Voldemort was after your time."

A slow smile crept onto Riddle's face. "Voldemort is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter."

With that, he took Harry's wand out from his pocket. Holding it up, he skywrote three words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

The memory waved his arms, and the words rearranged themselves into a message that even got a startled gasp out of Yami Bakura.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

"You've gotta be kidding me…" the tomb robber hissed, remembering his previous encounter with the dark wizard. By this time, Harry was practically shaking with rage. He set Ginny on the ground and stood up, his fists clenched, focusing a hateful glare on the past manifestation of Voldemort.

"You're not," he snapped, his voice filled with hate.

"Not what?" Riddle asked casually.

"You're not the greatest wizard of all time," Harry clarified. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Dumbledore is the greatest; everyone says so. You yourself were afraid to even touch Hogwarts, even when you were at the height of your power."

The scowl returned to Riddle's face. "Dumbledore has been driven out by the mere _memory _of me!"

"He's not as gone as you might think!" Harry shot back.

Riddle was about to snap back at him, when music suddenly streamed down from the opposite end of the Chamber. The memory whirled as the music started getting louder, filling the whole chamber with its unearthly melody. For Harry, however, it felt like each note was resonating with his soul. He could feel it in his chest; a sense of familiarity mixed with a deep sadness. He had a distinct impression these feelings were not his, but if that were so, then where were they coming from?

A moment later, a crimson bird the size of a small swan appeared from the shadows. Its glittering golden tail was as long as a peacock's, and its whole plumage gave it the illusion of being on fire. It was gripping something frayed and ragged, which it deposited at Harry's feet before resting heavily on his shoulder. The bird folded its great wings, and Harry looked up to see it had a sharp golden beak and beady black eyes. It stared calmly at Riddle, as if it was not bothered or impressed with the memory's appearance.

"That's a phoenix…" Riddle muttered, staring shrewdly at the bird.

Harry looked up at the bird in surprise. Yugi had mentioned last year that Dumbledore owned a phoenix, but he never thought he would actually have the opportunity to see it.

"And that," Riddle continued, his focus now on the ragged thing the bird had dropped, "is the old school Sorting Hat."

Harry looked down as well. Indeed, it was the old hat, lying motionless at his feet. He picked it up, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do with it, as Riddle let out a high, sinister laugh.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his defenders," he sneered. "A songbird and an old hat! Well, shall we see how these trinkets fair against the all mighty power of the Heir of Slytherin?"

Riddle walked over to in-between the final two columns, blocking off any hope of exit before whirled about, facing the giant statue of the wizard above them. He spread his arms wide, as if reaching out to embrace some dark power. A sharp hissing sound escaped from his mouth, but Harry understood what he was saying.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!"

High above, the mouth of the statue slowly started to open and a hissing sound from deep within filled the whole chamber. The phoenix took to the air again as both Harry and Yami Bakura closed their eyes and backed away from the statue, the tomb robber still loaded down with Yugi's limp body. Something huge hit the floor; feeling like it was shaking the whole chamber. The two of them could almost picture the Basilisk falling out of the mouth of the statue and rearing up, ready to come after them.

"Kill them!" Riddle commanded in Parseltongue.

"What'd he say?" Yami Bakura asked.

"Do I really need to translate?" Harry replied sourly, backing up as far as he could as he heard the King of Serpents come closer.

"Stay here," the tomb robber ordered, before darting forward.

Yami Bakura was using his sense of sound to get an idea of where the creature was. His hope was that he would be able to draw it away from Harry; unfortunately the plan backfired on him. Instead of following him like he had hoped, the snake whipped its tail around, sending him flying to the other side of the Chamber. Yugi went sailing from his arms as he landed on the slimy stone floor with a thud that not only knocked the wind out of him, but forced his eyes open as well.

Fortunately for the tomb robber, however, the Basilisk was still preoccupied with Harry, and was not focusing its petrifying gaze on him. He breathed a sigh of relief, when he caught the sound of something rolling on the stone floor. Turning, his saw the Millennium Eye had slipped from the pocket he kept it in and was following a crack in the floor, as if trying to escape from the predicament they had ended up in.

"Oh, no you don't," he muttered, grabbing the Eye before it could disappear into the darkness. "You may be useless in this situation, but if I can't escape from this, then you can't either."

Yami Bakura got back to his feet, careful the make sure the Basilisk was not looking at him before turning around. The snake had Harry completely cornered. The young wizard had the Sorting Hat jammed over his eyes, as if that would assist him in shutting out the murderous gaze of the Basilisk. The tomb robber gripped the Millennium Eye in his hand – if only he had an Item that could do him some good! The Eye's powers revolved around being able to look a person or creature in the eye. Needless to say, against something that could kill you for looking it in the eye, it was not helpful at all.

Suddenly, with a scorching note, the phoenix dived on the snake from out of nowhere. The bird's beak sunk right into one of the Basilisk's eyes before the phoenix hovered away from harm. The damaged eye started pouring blood, and Yami Bakura was forced to close his eyes as the snake swung its head about, hissing in pain. There was another note from the bird, and another hiss from the snake, and the tomb robber got the distinct impression that the phoenix had impaled the other eye as well. Opening his own eyes confirmed that, and he tossed a confident sneer toward Riddle, who was too busy hissing furiously at the snake to notice.

"Harry, c'mon!" Yami Bakura shouted. "The snake's blinded! Get outta there!"

Harry dimly heard the tomb robber's shout; he was too scared to even move. He clutched the brim of the Sorting Hat over his eyes, mentally wishing for the hat to help him somehow. Suddenly, the hat contracted, as if some kind of hand were squeezing it. Something heavy and hard thudded against his head, almost making him pass out. He lifted the hat off of his head, and a gleaming silver sword encrusted with rubies the size of eggs slid out of it and into his lap.

Yami Bakura blinked in surprise as Harry held the sword up in wonderment. Where had _that_ thing come from…?

Something started glowing in the tomb robber's clenched fist. He held it up, unclenching his fist to reveal the Millennium Eye glowing brightly in response to the appearance of the sword. The ball-shaped Item started flattening slightly, sprouting two golden fins on either side of the Eye of the Wisdom of Darkness. A leather bound gold handle appeared out of the end, and the tomb robber held it before him. What the heck was he supposed to do with this…?

Suddenly, a long, curving blade shot out of the other end of the Item. Yami Bakura stared at the Millennium Eye turned Millennium Sword, his eyes wide and his mouth contracted into a small "o" of wonder. What he had previously dubbed as the most useless Item just made itself ten times more useful.

Yami Bakura charged for the Basilisk as it swayed unsteadily above him. He jammed the sword into the side of the snake, running it along the creature's flank, giving it something else to occupy itself with as the tomb robber went to Harry's side. He helped the young wizard to his feet as the snake started swaying again, following the hissing shouts from its master.

"Move!" Yami Bakura shouted as the snake lunged wildly, narrowly missing the two of them as they ducked out of the way. They skidded about the slimy floor, coming up to brandish their swords before them as the snake reared up for one more strike.

"All right, kid, on three," the tomb robber ordered as the snake started curling back. "One… two…"

The snake lunged.

"Three!"

Both Harry and Yami Bakura put their entire weight behind their respective swords. Both weapons went right through the roof of the serpent's mouth, drenching them in blood. They had pierced the Basilisk's brain, only…

Harry let out a cry of pain as the snake keeled over onto the floor, twitching slightly in death. The young wizard fell against Yami Bakura, giving him a clear view of the splintered Basilisk fang wedged in his arm. He knelt back and let the young wizard rest against him as he started shuddering uncontrollably. The tomb robber grabbed the fang and forcefully pulled it straight out, but it did not do much good. He could literally _see_ the poison coursing through Harry's veins, and he knew that the young boy would be dead in only a matter of minutes.

"You're dead, Harry Potter," Riddle sneered. "I'm going to enjoy watching you die."

Yami Bakura clutched Harry's shoulder, trying to ignore the fact that the memory was right. There was a flash of scarlet, and the tomb robber turned to see the phoenix had landed next to them and rested its head against Harry's injured arm. Soon, pearly tears started slipping down its glossy feathers, dropping onto the wound from the Basilisk fang. As Yami Bakura watched, wide eyed, the wound started to slowly close and the hellishly green poison faded from Harry's veins.

"Get away, bird!" Riddle shouted, pulling out Harry's wand from his pocket. "Get away!"

There was a bang like a shot, and the phoenix took to the air again. Harry managed to sit up again on his own, any signs of poison faded away as if they were never even there.

"I forgot," Riddle snarled. "Phoenix tears have healing properties… Well, if the snake couldn't kill you, then I'll be glad to do it!"

Riddle raised the wand again, as the phoenix fluttered past once more, dropping the black diary next to Harry's knees. There was a brief moment where both he and Riddle stared at the diary in surprise, when Harry grabbed the discarded Basilisk fang and plunged it straight through the book.

There was a long, piercing scream that rang throughout the whole Chamber. Harry and Yami Bakura looked up to see that Riddle was slowly breaking apart, holes of blinding light appearing on his body. With one blinding flash, the memory of the boy who would be Voldemort was gone, with Harry's wand clattering to the ground.

Harry let out a shuddering breath as Yami Bakura got to his feet. He picked up the young wizard's wand and handed it to him, a smirk on his face.

"I believe this is yours," he said.

They went over to the dead Basilisk and carefully tugged out their respective swords. Harry collected the Sorting Hat from where he had tossed it as a faint moaning came from the other end of the chamber. From between the feet of the statue of Slytherin, Ginny was stirring slightly. A ways away from her, where he had landed, Yugi was holding himself up with one hand and holding his head in pain with the other.

Yami Bakura went over to Yugi as Harry went to help Ginny. As soon as he was in range, however, she latched onto him, crying her eyes out.

"Harry! Oh Harry!" she exclaimed. "I'm _so_ s-sorry! I w-wanted to t-tell you, but I c-couldn't! R-Riddle made me! I t-tried to g-get away from h-him, but –"

"Ginny, it's okay," he interrupted gently. "I understand, and Dumbledore should too."

Yami Bakura, in the meantime, helped Yugi to his feet. The small boy was still holding his head painfully, wincing.

"Are you all right there, little pharaoh?" the tomb robber asked.

"I've got a headache," Yugi groaned.

In spite of himself, Yami Bakura laughed out loud. "Only a headache?" he asked. "Thank god."

He lifted the smaller boy onto his shoulders, giving him a free ride as the four of them headed back to the entrance of the Chamber. The phoenix was waiting for them, leading them back out into the corridor that had led into the place. The doors of the Chamber hissed closed behind them, sealing them off from the horrors within for eternity. They followed the corridor back down the way they had come, until the sound of shuffling rock reached their ears.

"Ron!" Harry shouted. "Draco! Marik! Ginny and Yugi are okay!"

A whoop of triumph came as the four of them and the phoenix raced around the bend. What had once been a solid wall of rock had a fairly large hole in it, and an eager face poking through it.

_"Ginny!" _Ron exclaimed, reaching his arms through for his sister. Ginny gladly went through the hole, and Marik quickly appeared in the hole in her place.

"Yugi! Thank Kami-sama you're alive!" he exclaimed, reaching out for him. He plucked Yugi right off of Yami Bakura's shoulders, allowing him and Harry to crawl through the gap as well.

"Are you guys all right?" Draco asked as they fell down on the other side. "And where did you get those swords!"

"Later," Harry replied as the phoenix came flying through. "Where's Lockhart?"

Marik motioned back to where they had come from. "He's back near the pipe, but… Well, you'll have to see for yourself."

They went back up toward the pipe, where Professor Lockhart was sitting on a rock. He looked up at them as they approached, smiling pleasantly.

"Oh, hello," he said. "What an odd place. Do you live here?"

"No!" Ron answered, incredulous. Marik turned to Harry, a lopsided smirk on his face.

"When the wand exploded, the spell must have backfired on him," he explained. "He has no clue as to who he or where he is."

Yami Bakura snickered. "Sweet!"

Marik and Yugi sweatdropped. Draco, in the meantime, was looking up the pipe.

"Any ideas as to how we're going to get back up?" he asked, as the phoenix flew past him to come to a rest inside the pipe. It waved its tail feathers at them, as if it wanted them to grab a hold.

"Does that bird honestly think it can carry us all up?" Ron asked, eyebrow raised.

"This isn't an ordinary bird," Harry stated, walking toward the bird.

He motioned for everyone to take one another's hand. Once everyone was ready, Harry reached out and took hold of one of the phoenix's tail feathers. An amazing sense of lightness spread thorough him to the others, and with a rush of wings, they found themselves flying up the pipe ("Amazing! This is just like magic!" Lockhart exclaimed, to which Marik replied, "Well duh!"). Even Harry was impressed by the ride, but unfortunately, it was over quickly, and soon they were deposited back on the floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Myrtle stared at them as they regained their bearings, surprised. "You're still alive," she said to Harry.

"Don't be so disappointed," Harry replied sourly.

Myrtle just shrugged. "Oh well… I thought that if you died, you would be welcome to share my toilet," she said, blushing silver.

Draco made a face. "Urgh!" he exclaimed. "Looks like Myrtle _fancies_ you, Harry!"

Harry rolled his eyes, wishing he were somewhere else. Suddenly, the phoenix floated ahead of them, heading out of the bathroom. They followed the bird as it led them down the hallway, up the stairs, and past empty classrooms until they finally came to Professor McGonagall's office.

Harry sighed, before he knocked and pushed the door open.


	13. What Goes Around, Comes Around

**Yu-Gi-Oh!  
A New Generation of Priests**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN – WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND**

Silence reigned in McGonagall's office for a good minute, before a scream sounded through the room. Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting in front of the fireplace with her husband, rushed toward her daughter, engulfing the little girl in a tight hug. Professor McGonagall was standing behind her desk, a hand on her chest as she gasped for air. Next to her, smiling serenely as always, was Professor Dumbledore.

"Welcome back, gentlemen," he greeted, before pulling out the Millennium Puzzle and the loose pieces from his robe. "I believe someone would like to know if you're all right, Mr. Mutou."

Yugi, shaking slightly as if he was about to break down any moment, went up to the elderly headmaster and took the Puzzle. Working with the experience of someone who had done it more than once before, he quickly replaced the jarred out pieces. As soon as the last piece was in place, Yami Yugi appeared, concern clearly etched on his face.

"Aibou, wha—"

That was as far as the spirit of the pharaoh got. Yugi latched onto his other half, holding onto him and the Puzzle tightly, crying as he let out all the frustration and fear he had had pent up over the past few hours. Yami Yugi was caught off guard for a moment, but finally hugged his hikari back, rocking him back and forth and whispering comforting words in his ear.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley had finally let go of Ginny, and was wrapping Harry, Marik, Ron, Draco, and Yami Bakura ("Get _off_ woman!") in her crushing embrace.

"You saved her!" she exclaimed. "You saved her! _How_ did you do it!"

"I think we would all like to know that," McGonagall added weakly.

Mrs. Weasley let go of them, and Harry looked up at Yami Bakura uncertainly. The tomb robber shrugged, his Sword balanced on his shoulder casually. The phoenix went over to rest on Dumbledore's shoulder as the young wizard hesitated a moment, before placing the Sorting Hat, the ruby encrusted sword, and the remains of Riddle's diary on the desk.

Harry then proceeded to explain everything that had happened over the year. For nearly a quarter of an hour he talked, explaining everything from him and Draco hearing the voice in the walls, to following the spiders in the forbidden forest, to finding the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"This is all well and good," McGonagall interrupted, "never mind that you've just admitted breaking at _least_ a hundred school rules to pieces. But how on earth did you _survive?"_

So Harry told them of the events inside the Chamber. He told of the phoenix's timely arrival, of how he pulled the sword out of the Sorting Hat, how the Millennium Eye turned into a Sword. At that point, he faltered however. So far, he had avoided mentioning Ginny, Yugi, and Riddle's diary. He looked sadly at Ginny, before his gaze drifted over to Dumbledore, seeking some assistance.

The headmaster obviously got the hint. "What I would like to know," he began, his eyes twinkling, "is how Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny and Yugi, when my sources tell me he's currently hiding in Albania."

Yami Yugi's grip on his hikari tightened slightly, while Mr. Weasley let out a gasp of horror.

"Y-You-Know-Who? E-e-enchant Ginny?" he asked. "How?"

"It was the diary," Yami Bakura spoke up suddenly. "Riddle created it when he was sixteen. It kind of works like we do." He looked pointedly to Yami Yugi to indicate what he meant. "Over time, as a person writes in it, it becomes easy for Riddle to control that person. Now that the diary's been destroyed, however, he wont be able to harm ether her or little pharaoh again."

"I'm s-so s-sorry," Ginny spoke up suddenly. "I d-didn't realize… I found it in a b-book that Mum got me. I th-thought someone just forgot about it."

"I think," Dumbledore cut in before she could continue, "that Miss Weasley could use some rest and a mug of hot chocolate. You'll find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's been handing out Mandrake Juice almost all night. I do believe the Basilisk's victims will be waking up shortly."

Marik jumped at that, looking like he just remembered something. He started making his way for the door, when he looked back to the others.

"Uh… I… um… I gotta…"

"Just go, Gravekeeper," Yami Bakura said, rolling his eyes.

"Right," Marik agreed. "See you guys later."

With that, he took off out the door, with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley following with Ginny soon after. Dumbledore turned his attention to Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva," he said, "I do believe all this merits a good feast, don't you agree?"

She inclined her head slightly. "I'll leave you to deal with these gentlemen while I alert the kitchens."

McGonagall swept out of the office as Yugi raised his head from where he had it buried in Yami Yugi's translucent chest. What had she meant by that? After everything that happened – after everything they had been through – surely they were not about to be punished for breaking the school rules!

Dumbledore focused on Harry. "I do recall telling you and Mr. Weasley that if either of you broke the rules again, I would have to have you expelled."

Ron opened his mouth to object.

"Which proves that even the wisest among us must eat our words," he finished with a gentle smile. "Awards for Special Services to the School will be awarded to all of you, and… I do believe two hundred points for your respective houses will suffice."

Ron quickly clamped his mouth shut.

"Someone, however, is being quite silent in his involvement," Dumbledore continued. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Harry jumped; he had forgotten that Lockhart was with them! He turned to see that the professor was looking around, trying to figure out to whom Dumbledore was talking to.

"Er… Professor, there was a bit of an accident," Draco began. "Professor Lockhart tried to cast a Memory Charm with Ron's wand, and it kind of blew up in his face."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Impaled on your own sword, eh, Gilderoy?"

"Haven't got a sword, sir," Lockhart replied dumbly. He pointed to Harry and Yami Bakura. "They do, though. They'll lend you one."

Yami Bakura gave him a look that said even suggesting such a thing was not one of his better ideas. The headmaster chuckled again.

"Mr. Weasley, if you would be so kind as to escort Professor Lockhart down to the hospital wing," he requested. "Pharaoh, perhaps you should take your host down as well. I daresay he could use a bit of rest himself."

Yami Yugi complied, leading his hikari out of the office, and followed shortly by Ron and Professor Lockhart. That left Harry, Yami Bakura, and Draco alone with the headmaster. Dumbledore sat down, motioning them into some chairs next to him. Yami Bakura chose to remain standing, while Harry and Draco sat.

"First of all, Harry, Bakura, I want to thank you," the headmaster began. "You two must have shown me great loyalty down in the Chamber. Only that would have called Fawkes to you."

Dumbledore stroked the phoenix, who had fluttered down to perch on his knee. Yami Bakura's face broke out into a bit of a lopsided grin, reflecting both his and his hikari's reaction. Harry, however, was silent, lost in thought.

"Headmaster," he began, "when I first put on the Sorting Hat, it said I would do well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a time too… because I could speak Parseltongue."

"Harry, you can speak Parseltongue because Voldemort – who is the only remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin – could speak Parseltongue," Dumbledore explained. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe he may have unintentionally transferred some of his power to you when he gave you that scar."

Harry's hand flew up to the thunderbolt shaped scar on his forehead, horrified by the thought of having any part of the dark wizard inside of him.

"Then I should be in Slytherin," he said dejectedly. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me and it –"

"Put you in Gryffindor," Dumbledore finished for him. "Harry, you happen to have many qualities that Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand picked students: his own very rare gift, Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination… a certain disregard for the rules." The headmaster grinned at that. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that is, I think."

"It only put me in Gryffindor," Harry replied, "because I asked not to go into Slytherin –"

_"Exactly!"_ Dumbledore exclaimed, pleased. "Which makes you _very_ different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that define who we are, not our abilities."

The three boys stared at the headmaster, stunned.

"If you want anymore proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor," Dumbledore continued, "I suggest you take a closer look at the sword."

Frowning, Harry got up from his seat and went over to McGonagall's desk, where the silver sword he had pulled out of the Sorting Hat was resting. He picked up the bloodstained weapon, looking it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. That was when he caught sight of a name engraved just below the hilt.

_Godric Gryffindor _

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat," Dumbledore said, a bit of a twinkle in his eye at the irony of the statement.

Harry, Draco, and Yami Bakura just stared at the weapon, still stunned by it all, as the headmaster reached into Professor McGonagall's desk for a piece of parchment and a quill.

"What you three need, is some food and rest," he said. "Though, I would suggest going to the hospital wing and getting patched up before heading to the feast. In the meantime, I'll be writing to Azkaban; we'll need our gamekeeper back." A thoughtful look crossed his face then. "I'll also need to draft a new advertisement for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"

Draco chuckled as he got up from his seat. "Just make sure the next one actually did the things he says he did, hunh?"

The three of them started to make there way to the door. As soon as Harry had his hand on the knob, however, the door banged open, sending the boys crashing into one another. Lucius Malfoy was standing on the other side, a look of absolute fury on his face. Cowering between his legs, wrapped heavily in bandages, was none other than Dobby.

"Good evening, Lucius," Dumbledore greeted pleasantly, not looking up from the note he was writing.

Mr. Malfoy stalked toward the desk, ignoring the boys and the house elf trying frantically to polish his shoes. Draco, for one, had never seen his father so enraged. Not only were the man's shoes half polished, but also his hair was disheveled and his traveling cloak was askew.

"So!" he exclaimed. "The governors suspend you, but you see fit to come back here anyway!"

"Well, you see, Lucius," Dumbledore began, smiling serenely, "when the other governors heard that Mr. Weasley's daughter had been killed, they thought it would be best that I return. It was like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, so to speak. Also, many of them seemed to believe that you would curse their families if they did not agree to suspend me in the first place."

Malfoy seemed to get paler, but that did not take away the look of rage on his face.

"So, did you stop the attacks?" he demanded.

"We did," Dumbledore replied.

"Well, who was it?"

"The same person as the last time, Lucius," Dumbledore answered, "only this time Voldemort was acting through another, by means of this diary."

He pushed the diary forward on the desk, keeping a close eye on the other man along with Draco and Yami Bakura. Harry, however, was busy watching Dobby. The house elf was pointing to the diary, and then to Malfoy, then hitting himself on the head.

"I see…" Malfoy hissed slightly.

"A clever plan, really," Dumbledore continued, "because if Harry and his companions had not discovered the diary, Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one could have proven that she had not acted of her own free will. And then imagine what might have happened. Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act would probably have become the laughingstock of the wizard community."

Lucius Malfoy shot the three boys a venomous glare, most of it focused on his son. Draco tried to glare back, but eventually shrunk under his father's gaze, bumping into Yami Bakura as he backed away. Dobby, in the meantime, was still pointing to the dairy, Malfoy, and then hitting himself behind his master's back. Suddenly, it dawned on Harry what he was trying to tell him. He nodded slightly, and the house elf retreated to the corner, twisting his ears as punishment.

"Don't you want to know _how_ Ginny got that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry demanded.

"Why would I care how a silly little girl got it?" Malfoy snapped.

It dawned on Draco what Harry was getting at. He stepped forward. "You gave it to her, didn't you?" he demanded. "When you picked up her Transfiguration book in Flourish and Blotts, you slipped it inside, didn't you?"

Malfoy sneered down at him. "You can't prove that, and how dare you speak to me that way," he snarled. Then, he motioned toward Harry. "You're actually _helping_ this scar-faced imbecile? I taught you better than that."

"You taught me nothing!" Draco shot back. "You taught me how to be cruel to people, how to look down on them as if they were ants at my feet! That's not a way to live!"

"Oh, and have you found a _better_ way?" his father replied, his voice rising. "Have you found a more _rewarding_ way?"

Draco smirked in spite of himself. "How's the secret chamber under the drawing room floor?"

He had apparently struck a cord; Malfoy's face twisted down into an ugly look. Draco held his father's gaze, dimly aware that Harry was whispering something to Yami Bakura, and that Dumbledore looked ready to stop anything drastic from happening. His father's right hand twitched, as if it longed to grab the wand concealed in his diamond topped walking stick. After a tense moment, he decided against it, sweeping off toward the door.

"Come, Dobby!" he snapped as Yami Bakura went over to Draco, clutching something in his hand. The tomb robber gave it to him, and he stared at it in surprise before looking up at the spirit in shock. He really _was_ a king of thieves!

"Oy, father, isn't this yours?" Draco asked.

He held up the handkerchief the tomb robber had given him, showing off the distinct "LM" embroidered in a corner. Malfoy whirled around, looking at the handkerchief in surprise, and searching the pocket it had been in to make sure it was the real thing. He was about to run toward his son to grab it, when Draco dropped it…

Just as Dobby walked past him.

The handkerchief landed on the house elf's head, making him pause in mid-step. Dobby slipped the handkerchief off his head, looking at it as if it were a priceless treasure. Malfoy, in the meantime, was fuming. That time, he really did snatch his wand from its hiding place, stalking toward his son menacingly. Dumbledore quickly stood up from behind the desk to stop him, but Draco was already way ahead of him, tearing his own wand out of his robe pocket.

_"Expelliarmus!" _

Lucius Malfoy went flying backwards with enough force to send him smashing into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway outside the office. His wand clattered to the ground somewhere as Draco pocketed his, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I really like that spell," he commented as his father shakily got to his feet.

"Well, Lucius," Dumbledore began, "I do believe you're not welcome here anymore."

Malfoy gave his son one last glare. "I _never_ want to see you again," he snarled, before swinging his cloak about his shoulders and stalking down the hallway.

Draco managed to stay standing for a good minute before his knees collapsed him to the floor. Tears streamed down his face; he could hardly believe what he had just done. He gave a start as he felt a hand grip his shoulder, and turned to see Harry behind him, holding out a tissue. Smiling in spite of it all, he took it and cleaned up his face.

"I don't understand something," Draco began, his voice muffled by the tissue, as he looked up to Yami Bakura, "how'd you know that giving a house elf clothes sets them free from their master?"

The tomb robber pointed to Harry. "He told me," he answered, "and I took a wild guess that a handkerchief counted as clothing."

Dobby looked up at all of them, wide-eye. "You've all freed Dobby…" he said, tears coming to his eyes. "You've all saved Dobby…!"

"Just do us a favor, Dobby," Harry began, a grin breaking out on his face, "don't try to save us."

-.oOOo.-

A faint stirring… a faint movement – oh, how wonderful it felt to move again! The arms… yes, one arm could move again, and the other was coming along. Next, the legs… yes, both legs were moving again, albeit with a bit of stiffness. Breathe… breathing again… and now the eyes…

Hermione slowly opened her eyes, finding herself staring up at a sweeping ceiling that reminded her of the library at Hogwarts. She sat up, glancing around to see that volumes and volumes of books were stacked all over the small room. There was only one door leading out, and she opened it to find a dark hallway on the other side with another door visible across the way. The other door looked ancient, and the only marking on it was the same as the one on Yugi's Puzzle: the Eye of the Wisdom of Darkness.

Curiosity quickly won her over, and Hermione went over, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open. The room on the other side was simple, yet fanciful, with almost everything trimmed in gold. The one thing that stood out, however, was the woman standing in the center of the room, her hands clasped before her. Hermione gasped at her appearance; she was slightly taller than herself, with bushy black hair and gentle brown eyes. She smiled at her warmly.

"Not even Isis was able to open my door," she said. "I'm grateful."

Hermione blinked, caught off guard. "Who… who are you?"

"My name is Aishisu, priestess and soothsayer to Pharaoh Panseru," she introduced. Her smiled broadened at that. "Though, I suspect everyone will call me 'Yami Hermione'."

It was a miracle; Hermione was speechless for the first time in her life. Aishisu chuckled at her reaction.

"Perhaps you should return to the 'real world'," she said. "Someone is waiting to explain everything to you."

It was like waking up again – an odd sense of being in one place, and then suddenly appearing in another. Hermione woke up again to find herself looking up at a concerned pair of lavender eyes. Marik smiled warmly, wrapping her in a hug as he helped her sit up in bed.

"Welcome back, Hermi-chan," he greeted as he pulled away, relief obvious in his voice.

Hermione, still confused by what she had seen when she first woke up, felt something heavy around her neck. She looked down to see a necklace of sorts, with the eye she had seen on the door within her mind surrounded by two odd fins. Her gaze drifted back up to Marik, a bit of a frown creasing her face.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," she declared.

Marik sweatdropped. "Oh, you have _no_ idea."

-.oOOo.-

The rest of the school year passed by in a blaze of warm sunshine, and Hogwarts had returned to normal once more with only a few differences. Not only were Defense Against the Dark Arts classes canceled, but also final exams had been dropped for that year as a school treat (much to Hermione and Seto's disappointment). Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as school governor, and was also under investigation at the Ministry of Magic for unethical practices. Hermione being the new owner of the Millennium Tauk was a bit of a shock, but at least her and Marik were walking down the halls hand-in-hand again.

The real shock had come one morning a few days before they would leave for home. Draco had not been in the Gryffindor boy's dorm when everyone woke up. The reason why became apparent at breakfast when he came to join everyone, sporting a bright red and gold Gryffindor crest on his robe.

"I tried on the Sorting Hat again," he explained as he sat down next to Yugi. "It's official: I'm in Gryffindor."

"All right!" Marik exclaimed, giving him a high five from across the table.

"There's only one problem," Draco continued, settling back into his seat, "I have no idea where I'm going to go for the summer."

"I'd offer for you to come home with me, but…" Harry began, a bit of a regretful look on his face. "The Dursely's complain enough with one wizard in the house. I'd hate to see how'd they'd act with two around."

Yugi scrunched his face up in thought. He jumped in his seat as an idea dawned on him.

"You could come live with us, Draco!" he exclaimed.

Draco blinked, surprised. "In Japan?"

_Aibou,_ Yami Yugi began, patronizingly, _are you sure Ojii-chan won't mind? _

_He didn't mind when he found out his grandson was possessed by a five thousand year old pharaoh,_ Yugi pointed out.

_True, but I'm not another mouth to feed. _

_You _act_ like it sometimes. _

_Aibou! _

In the real world, Yugi started chuckling, getting weird looks from everyone else.

"Well…" Draco began uneasily, weirded out by the little boy. "I suppose… if you'll have me. I guess I'll go with you."

"Of course!" Yugi exclaimed, grinning. "Besides, it'll give you a head start on Muggle Studies next year."

-.oOOo.-

Too soon, the journey home on the Hogwarts Express came. Harry, Yugi, Draco, Marik, Ron, Hermione, Seto, Fred, George, Bakura, and Ginny got a large compartment to themselves. The Egyptian spirits were out and about as well, and it was quiet cramped despite the size of the room.

At least they were all being civil to one another. Yami Yugi and Aishisu were quietly talking in one corner (probably catching up, Yugi suspected). Yami Bakura was sitting next to his hikari with his feet propped up on the seat across from him, and Yami Seto had somehow gotten a hold of Marik's GameBoy and was playing a game on it.

The twins were setting off the last of the Filibuster fireworks they had gotten last summer, and Seto had his nose buried in his laptop, catching up on the business his company had been doing. Yugi looked at all the statistics and graphs over his shoulder, trying to understand it all and failing miserably. Ginny kept taking sidelong glances at Bakura. He finally caught her one time.

"What is it?" he asked innocently. She just blushed and looked away. Yami Bakura snickered, elbowing him.

"Oy, hikari, looks like you got yourself a girlfriend," he remarked. Bakura blushed and looked away as well.

"And you accuse me of cradle robbing," Marik chuckled, his arm around Hermione as always. She frowned, however.

"What do you mean, cradle robbing?" she asked.

Marik blinked, confused. "I thought you knew. I'm sixteen."

_"What!" _

"This isn't going to end well," Seto and Yami Seto commented at the same time, not looking up from their respective electronics.

The train eventually came to a slow stop, and the spirits disappeared into their respective Millennium Items (or hikaris, in Bakura's case) as Harry reached into his trunk for a piece of parchment and quill. He scribbled his number a few times and tore it, handing each of them a copy.

"This is called a telephone number," Harry told Ron. "I showed your dad how to use one last summer. Call me at the Dursely's okay? I don't think I could stand another summer with only Dudley to talk to."

Draco looked at the number from all angles, confused. "What's a 'fellytone'?" he asked. Yugi slapped himself in the forehead.

"Oh, we're going to have fun this summer," he commented dryly.

They made their way off of the train and joined the crowd of people waiting to go through the enchanted barrier. Draco turned his attention to Harry as they moved closer toward the Muggle world.

"Your aunt and uncle," he began, "they should be proud of everything you've done this year, shouldn't they?"

"Are you kidding?" Harry asked. "All those times I could have died, and didn't manage it? They'll be furious…"


End file.
